The Cloud Collector by Brian Freemantle Read Free Book Online

told you the CIA’s got al Aswamy in a box. He can’t make a move we don’t know about it.’
    â€˜Don’t you think you should give Langley the heads-up about this?’ suggested the woman, behind her desk now.
    â€˜This isn’t three hours old yet,’ protested Irvine.
    â€˜We know from the phone call after the Anacostia ambush that there’s an operation going down somewhere. And we’ve intercepted an encrypted message, as yet unbroken, from an electronic address of the Iranian intelligence service from which al Aswamy takes his orders,’ argued Singleton. ‘That’s enough for Langley to move.’
    â€˜We’ve got time!’ insisted Irvine.
    â€˜This isn’t what we’ve been formed to do; we can’t sit on this,’ came in Marian.
    â€˜We’re not going to sit on it!’ insisted Irvine, refusing to recognize the weakness of his not reacting immediately. ‘We’re going to give Shab and Akram time on the computers. If it defeats them—and us, because we’re all going to work on it, too—then we’ll alert Langley.’
    â€˜By the end of this day if we don’t crack it,’ persisted Singleton.
    The man was right, Irvine knew. ‘By the end of the day,’ he capitulated.
    *   *   *
    â€˜You’ve upset a lot of people,’ complained Jeremy Dodson the moment the secure telephone connection was established.
    â€˜Who?’ sharply demanded Sally, irritated at having to wait over an hour for a temporary desk and telephone.
    â€˜I had the GCHQ security director on, querying your authority for what you wanted.’
    â€˜They had my official accreditation and authority ahead of my arrival here!’
    â€˜It’s not the sort of request they’re accustomed to, and they’re nervous after all the whistle-blowing exposure in 2013,’ said the MI5 operations director. ‘And a Detective Superintendent Pritchard’s claiming you left with official police evidence.’
    The complaints were being set out as accusations, Sally recognized, wondering if Dodson was trying to generate a personally protective smoke screen against the mistakes she’d already isolated. ‘The computer?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    She’d obviously unsettled the arrogant bastard more than she’d imagined. ‘They hadn’t discovered its existence to make it part of any police evidence! And Pritchard told me I could have whatever I wanted of Bennett’s property. He’ll have to do a damned sight better than this to save himself from a disciplinary enquiry. Did you confirm that I had it and where I was with it?’
    â€˜Of course I didn’t. I said we hadn’t been in contact, didn’t know where you were, and that I’d get back to him when you made contact. He said he was taking it up with his chief constable.’
    That risked creating the publicity of MI5 involvement the Director-General had forbidden, Sally immediately recognized. ‘I’m following a disastrous catalog of professional mistakes and cock-ups that could end as precisely that, a very real disaster that should and could have been prevented. I want you to have several things done for me as quickly as possible while I’m stuck here. And I’d appreciate you, personally, getting back to Pritchard to tell him what I’ve just told you, using those precise words. He’s to do nothing whatsoever, something he’s very good at, until he hears from me.’
    Dodson didn’t respond at once, and when he did, the uncertainty was obvious. ‘Are you seriously suggesting there’s a terrorism danger here!’
    There wasn’t sufficient justification for that, Sally acknowledged. ‘I believe there’s every indication.’
    Once more there was initial silence. Then Dodson said, ‘What else do you want done?’
    Sally had compiled her list to fill