“I don’t know,” Tasker admitted. “And I’m not sure she did, either.”
“And Africa?” Ward prompted. “Where’d you get these ideas?”
“We should get moving.” As they walked, heading down wide steps towards the car, he said, “I’ve got a contact. Someone who spoke to Parris.”
“You’ve –” Ward started incredulously.
“I’m sorry, but considering his fate I’m being cautious about who I share with. Those details in there probably marked us already, but I’ll go through my handler to follow up, keep it out of your office. You should make a show of releasing Parris’s case to the police.”
“Releasing the case? Hold on –”
“You said there’s nothing left to involve us in Laukstad,” Tasker said. “Better they believe there’s nothing tying us to Parris, either. I’ll leave town, continue alone.”
“Tasker,” Ward said firmly. “The MEE is not afraid of corporations like Duvcorp.”
“We don’t know who we’re supposed to be afraid of yet,” Tasker replied. “Right now, the best thing we can do is get to Lopaz before they do, and I can do that best without people thinking it’s what I’m doing.”
Ward didn’t like it, but left it at that. They got back in the car and as she drove he called Caffery again. Yes, Duvcorp had an office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital city, Kinshasa, and there was a Miguel Lopaz who worked there. Their own contact out there was Special Intelligence Service, not someone to be trusted with Ministry business. But the way Cosgrove had given them the brush-off was enough to convince Tasker that Katryzna was on the money, so he had a new destination. He could do with the African sun. He immediately demanded a flight out there – with two seat bookings, the second anonymous, to protect his contact – but Caffery postured and complained and said it was a big ask with or without a travelling companion. The DRC was a war zone and they couldn’t even be sure this was a Ministry case.
Wait and see, the bastard said. Enjoy the hotel, check in with your family.
It caught him off guard for a second. Helen and Rebecca were almost close enough to touch, but to let them know that he was here and leaving again would be crueller than them not knowing at all. He curtly ended the call, asking that Caffery merely do as he was asked.
Ward said, “Time’s a factor, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Tasker said.
“My people could help,” Ward continued, carefully.
Tasker raised an eyebrow.
“Agent Tasker. It’s my job to enable people like you to do yours; that can include expedited travel arrangements. I’m not . . . always convinced Management run things smoothly out of London. We can have you on a plane in a couple of hours, I’m sure.”
A manager offering him the support he actually needed? Here was a marvel. “I’d appreciate that.”
“And I’d like to drive you to the airport myself, to be safe.”
Ah. There was the choice – between introducing Ward to Katryzna and waiting on damn Caffery. Well, it was her funeral. He said, “All right. But fair warning, I just met this woman and I’m not sure how safe she is.”
Ward looked happy enough just to be trusted, though, and after they pulled up to the hotel he left her waiting by the car to go get his errant guest.
Katryzna greeted him, gun in hand. She had changed into fresh clothes sent up by the hotel lobby, and looked almost presentable in too-big khaki trousers and a pale blouse – more like she had escaped from a penal colony than just murdered someone. Though she had failed to get her shaved head completely clean, and her knife-belt remained strapped around her waist. Tasker pointed to her neck, still flecked with blood. “You missed a spot.”
She stuck out her tongue to show how little she cared. As he gathered his things, and packed away her weapons, he explained about the meeting and the next step taking him to Africa. Katryzna smiled at his drive and said she knew he’d deliver – eager to keep moving herself, right away.
Despite her shower and new clothes, Katryzna’s appearance at the car still startled Ward. Katryzna gave her name then jumped forward for a hug. She aborted at the last second and backed off, abashed. Ward did a bad job of hiding her confusion. Tasker settled into the passenger seat and watched Katryzna in the mirror. She flashed him a cheeky smile but kept quiet as they started driving.
Ward confirmed she’d arranged things in the time it had taken Tasker to round up his vagrant travelling companion. Then she put her effort into avoiding the urge to stare, while Katryzna flicked little looks at her. Studying her body as well as her face. Tasker wondered if she might bite out Ward’s throat mid-journey, and his concerns mounted when Katryzna snapped little whispers at her invisible companion. Ward shot Tasker a sideways look.
“Do you get cute little assistants everywhere you go?” Katryzna asked Tasker, face suddenly appearing between the seats. Ward almost swerved into the next lane.
“This is the Deputy Director of Ordshaw’s MEE offices,” Tasker told her, levelly, and Katryzna fell back with an impressed whistle.
“You’re important, Sean. Can we take her with us?”
“I’m sorry,” Ward said. “Who exactly is she, Agent Tasker?”
“I kill people.”
The car got a few degrees colder as Katryzna’s grin stretched wider. Tasker could hear Ward’s cogs turning. “What’s your connection to Parris?”
“Eyes,” Katryzna answered with a cheery shrug. Ward mouthed it back.
“A friend of hers,” Tasker explained. “He worked for Duvcorp. Parris tried to contact him, same as us, and got her instead.”
“I bit his face.”
Tasker didn’t have a response for that, and Ward’s frown intensified.
Katryzna continued, “First time I met Eyes. Near London, actually. He was sent to kill me and I bit him to get away. A few months later, we met in Budapest. Bucharest? I get them confused. Anyway, we had dinner in Belarus when he helped me out of prison.” Her jumbled thoughts got more tangled. “You didn’t fear Eyes, because if he was out to get you, you were already dead. Well, except me. Because I’m me.”
“Sounds . . . romantic,” Ward commented weakly.
Katryzna bolted forward again. “Oh, it wasn’t like that. Men? Yuck.” Her hand was on Ward’s shoulder and the deputy director looked very afraid. When Katryzna looked to Tasker to press her point, he nodded for her to back off. Her brow creased and she carried on. “He was sad, never stopped smoking. He only wanted someone to talk to – about how bored he was, unfulfilled. People like talking to me, I’m a good listener.”
Hard to believe. She sat back, at last. Ward checked where she’d touched her shoulder like it might catch fire.
“We worked together sometimes, and met up when we were nearby. It’s important to keep social. And he needed to vent about the ghosts and things Hank Duvalier made him hunt. He hated not knowing things, and he couldn’t find explanations for everything. He described something to me once that sounded” – she barked a laugh – “like a floating woman, half-invisible. Dead. He did not understand it at all, so he blamed himself. Overtired, low on oxygen, whatever. Eyes was so dry, he saw everything as a logic problem, and this one did not add up. I told him he should pack it in. Retire. Except to retire from our work, usually someone retires you. He should have killed them first.” Katryzna scowled at her shoulder again and hissed something Polish, then said, “Yes I did. How would you know?” Ward’s expression got more concerned and Katryzna smiled like a kid caught misbehaving. “Sorry. My conscience.”