Collateral Damage (Stone Barrington 25)

“Cheyne Walk, beside the Thames, in Chelsea.”

“Ah, yes. When you speak to Tom, raise that subject, please. I’d like to know where Ms. Shazaz is, or when she was last sighted.”

“She was in Palo Alto when the West Coast bombs were made,” Holly said. She did not mention that one of the bombs had been a nuclear device, because she didn’t know how many of the people in the room knew that. Lance probably did, but maybe not the others.

“Oh,” the director said. It was a very expressive word. “Why the hell didn’t we bag her?”

Lance spoke up. “We didn’t bag anybody until after the Palo Alto operation had been shut down,” he said, “and intel led us to believe that she was already out of the country when we bagged her brothers.”

“Did intel indicate where out of the country?” Kate asked.

“No, Director, not at the time. Perhaps we have a better idea now.”

“Could this be a revenge killing?” Kate asked. “Or is there a larger motive afoot?”

Holly spoke. “It might be said that the foreign secretary was connected to recent events in California, in the person of the head of MI-6, who was present in L.A.”

“Perhaps you’d better give that lady a jingle,” Kate said, “and let her know of your, ah … opinion. I would hate to hear of some later event that we might have helped to stop.”

“With your permission, I’ll make that call now,” Holly said.

“Please do so.”

Holly rose and returned to her office next to the director’s, her heart beating a little faster.

Holly dialed the London direct line for Felicity Devonshire, known as “Architect,” head of MI-6.

“Yes?” a male voice asked.

“This is Holly Barker, assistant director of intelligence, calling from Langley, Virginia, for Architect.”

“Architect is presently unavailable,” the man said. “I’ll say you called.” He hung up without further ado.

Well, that was short, Holly thought. She might as well go back to the meeting. Then her phone rang. “Holly Barker.”

“It’s Felicity. I’m sorry my assistant was short with you. As you can imagine, we’re in the middle of a flap here.”

“The director asked me to call and give you an idea that arose at our daily briefing this morning.”

“I’d be grateful for any suggestion, of course.”

“It occurred to us that this act might be revenge for the deaths of Ari Shazaz, aka Hamish McCallister, and his brother, Mohammad.”

Felicity was briefly silent. “Well, that’s a stretch, but …”

“Are you aware that the Shazazes have a sister who was complicit in the bomb making?”

“One moment.” Felicity covered the phone and could be heard to speak authoritatively to someone in the room. “No, we are not aware of that. Do you have details?”

“Her name is Jasmine, she is the youngest of the three siblings, and she may have shared Hamish’s London residence, in Cheyne Walk. I’m afraid that’s all we have, but we would certainly be grateful for anything you learn.”

“Of course,” Felicity said, “and I thank you for the call, Holly. Please give my very best to Kate and thank her for thinking of us. Now, if you’ll excuse me …”

“Of course.” But Felicity had already hung up. Holly was about to return to the briefing when her phone rang again. “Holly Barker.”

“Holly, this is Tim Coleman. Is the director available?” Coleman was the president’s chief of staff.

“Good morning, Tim. She’s in the daily intelligence briefing at the moment, but if it’s urgent I can interrupt.”