River said, ‘Taverner can’t get away with this.’
‘Nice to know where your priorities lie,’ Lamb said.
‘I’m not talking about what she did to me. She’s behind all this. If we’re to save Hassan, we need to squeeze her.’
‘We?’
‘Nobody else is going to do it.’
‘Kid’s dead meat then.’
Catherine Standish said, ‘You could have let the Dogs round us up. You didn’t. What was that about?’
‘You think I have a sneaking regard for your talents?’
‘I think you do nothing without a reason.’
‘The day I let Regent’s Park screw me around’s the day I take the pledge,’ Lamb said. ‘If the Dogs tried to steal my pencil sharpener, I’d hide it. And I don’t have a pencil sharpener.’
Ho said, ‘What’s a pencil sharpener?’
‘Very funny.’
Ho looked puzzled.
‘So what’s the point?’ Louisa asked. ‘Why are we here?’
Lamb lit his cigarette. For a moment, his face wreathed in smoke, he might have materialized from the tomb he leant against. ‘Let’s not kid ourselves. Dogs’ll pick you up before you get your breakfast. But at least you know what’s happening. Taverner’s got Loy and White, and she’ll have turned both of them by now. They’ll swear blind whatever story she feeds them is true. And that’ll be that this whole mess was planned at Slough House. Meaning me.’
‘Nice to know where your priorities lie,’ River said.
‘Yeah, well, the difference between us is I’ve a career to look back on. And I’m not having Taverner piss all over it.’
‘And that’s it?’ Min Harper said. ‘We just hang about for the Dogs to catch up?’
‘You have a better plan?’
Louisa said, ‘Hassan’s still out there somewhere. Maybe not far away. We can’t sit on our hands and wait for his body to be found.’
‘I thought you were dying for your breakfast.’
‘You’re trying to wind us up, aren’t you?’
‘Yeah, that’s right. So you discover the heroes inside yourselves.’ He paused. ‘Look. I don’t normally say this stuff, but I want to tell you something.’ He took a drag on his cigarette. ‘You’re fucking useless, the lot of you.’
They waited for a ‘but’.
‘No, I’m serious. If you weren’t fuck-ups, you’d still be at Regent’s Park. If you’re all Hassan Ahmed’s got to rely on, I hope the kid’s got religion.’ He dropped his cigarette and ground it into the damp leaves underfoot. ‘Now, given that Cartwright’s the only one with anything useful to offer, he’d better come with me.’
‘Where to?’ River asked.
‘To let the air out of Taverner’s tyres,’ Lamb said. ‘The rest of you can do what you like.’
As they headed towards the gates, Lamb half a pace ahead, River said: ‘You were trying to wind them up, weren’t you?’
‘No,’ Lamb told him. ‘I meant every word.’
‘Might have the effect of winding them up, though.’
‘I don’t suppose that’ll do much harm,’ Lamb said. ‘But it’s not likely to do a hell of a lot of good.’ Producing a key, he tossed it to River, who unlocked the gates, let Lamb through, then followed him on to the pavement.
Lamb was already striding over the road, where a large black SUV was parked half on the opposite pavement.
River said, ‘Where’d you get the car?’
‘Official issue,’ Lamb told him. ‘You been near Slough House?’
‘Not since we all left together.’
‘So we don’t know whether the cleaners have been in.’
For a moment, River thought he meant just that: the cleaners. He hadn’t been aware Slough House was ever cleaned. Then he remembered Moody. ‘It’s been a few hours. They might have been and gone.’
‘Or it might still be there.’
The others watched Lamb and Cartwright disappear between the trees.
Louisa said, ‘Bastard.’
Catherine Standish said, ‘He told us we’re useless because he wants us to prove him wrong.’
‘No he didn’t. He’s covering his arse, that’s all.’
‘But supposing he wasn’t?’ said Catherine.
‘What difference would that make?’
‘It would mean he wants us to prove him wrong.’
‘I’m not desperate for his approval.’
‘Hassan Ahmed might appreciate it, though.’
Min said, ‘Everyone in the country’s been looking for Hassan Ahmed for two days. How are we supposed to find him?’
‘We know where he was not long ago. Anyway, we’re not looking for him,’ Catherine said. ‘We’re looking for the people who took him.’
‘There’s a difference?’
‘You’re Alan Black,’ she said. ‘That’s what he was saying before Cartwright interrupted. So, we’re Alan Black. What would we have done?’
Louisa said, ‘You’re right. It gives us an edge.’
Ho said, ‘You think?’
‘Why not?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t remember ever having a conversation with him.’
‘So how come you didn’t like him?’
‘He used to open windows.’
Catherine said drily, ‘I can see how upsetting that must have been for you.’
Ho removed the dongle from his laptop and powered down. ‘Anyway, we can’t stay here. It’s cold and damp. Where’s that caff?’
‘Old Street.’
‘Come on, then.’
‘All of us?’
‘Someone has to come. I didn’t bring any money. They have wi-fi, you notice?’
Louisa looked at Min, then back at Ho. ‘You want to try looking for Hassan?’
Ho shrugged. ‘Whatever.’
‘Don’t tell me you want Lamb’s approval.’
