Gray Vengeance by Alan McDermott Read Free Book Online

seen by just a handful of people in its upper council, and no council members are stupid enough to let intel about their beloved Takasa slip our way. And the terror suspect who fled was being monitored by a third-party private security firm, and they had orders to contact the Home Office, who then contacted the police, who then arrived too late to find him. It was their internal procedure that let him get away, not anything we did.’
    ‘I hear you on all counts,’ Ellis said, ‘and I raised these arguments myself, but she isn’t interested in anything but results.’
    She pointed to the chair, and Harvey reluctantly took a seat.
    ‘Andrew, you know as well as I do that this close to election time, the politicians need to be seen in a favourable light. The las t thi ng they need is an embarrassment that could trip them up on their way to the polls.’
    Harvey was well aware of the way things played out when people were preparing to choose their new leaders: broken promises were swept under the carpet as new ones were offered to a believing public; figures were massaged—or ‘seasonally adjusted’— to make their time in office seem a success; and bad news was suppressed or played down until the hustings were over.
    That didn’t make his demotion any easier to swallow.
    ‘So who takes over from me?’
    ‘The home secretary is sending someone from Six,’ Ellis said. ‘Farrar used to work for them, so she thinks having them take the lead will produce results.’
    Great . Harvey had had only a few dealings with his counterparts in MI6, and none of them had turned out well. Working under one of them wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, that was for sure.
    ‘I’m sure this is only temporary,’ Ellis assured him. ‘Once we have Farrar and the lowdown on Takasa, we won’t need their . . . assistance.’
    ‘And I regain my position?’ Harvey pressed.
    The question made Ellis squirm, confirming Harvey’s suspicions .
    ‘That remains to be seen,’ she said. ‘The home secretary will want a report from me as well as from your replacement. If you shine, the slot should be yours again.’
    Harvey knew there wasn’t much he could do except swallow his pride and get on with the job, which should be easier now that Farrar’s disappearance had hit the headlines. He could now bring Interpol and other foreign agencies into the search, which would speed things along.
    ‘When does he get here? My replacement?’
    ‘ Sarah will be here this afternoon,’ Ellis said. ‘If you could have your office cleared by lunchtime, that would be great.’
    Harvey nodded and rose to leave. ‘I assume we’re okay to get the ball rolling on Farrar,’ he said, as he headed for the door.
    ‘No, just wait until Sarah gets here and let her co-ordinate things.’
    ‘Sure. No problem.’
    Harvey went back to his office and began clearing out his drawers. He took his time, trying to gather his emotions before having to face his colleagues. He was sure they’d sympathise, but he wanted to share the news with a level head, rather than reveal the anger that was gnawing at his insides.
    Finally calm, he removed his laptop from the docking station and carried it out of the office, finding an empty desk to call home.
    As he turned to address his team—former team, he reminded himself—he took small consolation from being rid of the stifling office and back in the thick of things.

Chapter 8
    15 July 2014
    Paul Roberts walked up to the immigration desk at Heathrow, wearing the same jeans and T-shirt he’d used on the outward journey five months earlier. This time they were pressed and clean, and the man wearing them hardly resembled the scruffy thirty-four-year-old who’d left the country in the early spring.
    His hair, which had once fallen over his ears and down to the nape of his neck, was now cut in a neat side parting, and the sun had bleached it a lighter shade of brown.
    ‘I’ve been on a voyage of self-discovery,’ Roberts said to