The Phoenix

Gabriel shook his head grimly. ‘No. Although a lot of influential people devoted a lot of time and effort to trying to frame it as an honor killing. But no. Sanjit, Mira’s fiancé, was a good guy. No, Mira was killed by a senior American diplomat by the name of Scooter Ryan. You might have heard of him.’

Ella blanched. She wasn’t into politics and rarely read the papers or turned on the TV news. But even she had heard of Scooter Ryan – devoted patriot, family man and father of three, killed by a car bomb outside Boston in one of the only unsolved, unclaimed terrorist attacks to take place on US soil in the last decade.

‘The Scooter Ryan? The republican, family-values guy?’

Gabriel nodded. ‘Yup. Also a rapist and a killer and a liar.’

‘Wasn’t he an ex-marine?’ Ella asked, as the Boston car-bomb story came back to her.

‘That’s right,’ said Gabriel. ‘Scooter came on to Mira one night at a hotel bar, close to the US consulate. She wasn’t interested. After Mira turned him down, he followed her, beat her, raped her, and finally strangled her with her own scarf. Then he dumped her body on a trash heap fifteen miles north of the city and kept going to his country retreat, where he spent the weekend playing polo with a bunch of visiting State Department families.’

‘He wasn’t arrested?’

Gabriel stared down at his lap. ‘No, he was not.’ He said the words slowly, as if he’d been taught them by a therapist whose job it was t

o keep him calm. ‘Because that’s not how it works, apparently, not in the “real world”. Rumors were denied, evidence suppressed, money changed hands, and diplomatic immunity was invoked. Mira was buried, the press fell silent, and Scooter went home to the States, with no more fuss than if he’d accidentally killed a stray pheasant on the road.’ Looking up, his eyes bore into Ella’s. ‘So I was angry about that.’

The understatement hung in the air between them like a charge of lightning.

‘A few weeks later I found The Group. Or maybe they found me, I’m not sure exactly how it went down. I was drinking a lot. But that’s what The Group do, you see. When the powers of the “real world” let you down; when they take the side of the powerful, no matter whether those people are good or bad, right or wrong, The Group steps in to make sure that justice prevails.’

After a silence that felt like forever, Ella asked him flat out. ‘Are you telling me that you – that The Group – murdered Scooter Ryan?’

For the first time since he began the story, Gabriel smiled. ‘I don’t believe I told you that. I’m simply explaining what happened to my friend Mira, and how it led me to this life. I’m telling you that Mira was my emotional hook. Because you want to know what yours is. Why you should join a group you know next to nothing about.’

‘Did you kill Ryan?’ Ella asked again. She wasn’t about to be deflected that easily.

Gabriel’s returned her gaze. ‘Sometimes, usually, doing the right thing means saving lives. Sometimes it means exposing what’s been hidden, or hiding what others would like to expose. Sometimes it means breaking the law in pursuit of a greater good. And occasionally – yes – it means killing people. Bad people. The world is full of Scooter Ryans. Of people who believe they are above the law. From drug lords, heads of state and CEOs, right down to lowly people-smugglers, pedophile priests and corrupt prison officers. The Group isn’t Greenpeace, Ella. But we aren’t a cult either. We are a secret, elite, moral force. To be invited to join us is both a privilege and a responsibility. How you choose to respond to that call will be your free choice.’

‘So you did kill Ryan.’

He suppressed a smile. ‘If you say so, Ella. All I’m saying is that whatever I did, I did for Mira. And I believe that whatever you do, should you choose to join us, you’ll do for your parents. They’re your hook. So if you’re looking for a reason to go on this mission, how about avenging their murders?’

Ella stiffened. He had her attention now.

‘The mission has something to do with my parents?’

‘It does.’ Gabriel nodded. ‘I can’t tell you more than that. I shouldn’t even have told you that. But yes. It does.’

Restarting the engine, he set off again. A few minutes later they reached the T-junction with the main road.

‘San Francisco’s that way.’ Gabriel nodded to the right. ‘And Camp Hope’s to our left. Your choice.’

My choice, thought Ella. In one direction lay danger, uncertainty, and being forced to place her trust in a group that told her next to nothing, while expecting her to blindly obey its orders. In the other lay safety, calm, and at least the possibility of a normal life.

But I wouldn’t have avenged my parents’ murders.

I wouldn’t have righted the wrongs of the past.

I would have to live the rest of my life never knowing what might have been. Wordlessly, Ella pointed left. The decision was already made and they both knew it.

She couldn’t back out now.

They drove the rest of the journey in silence. At the usual parking place in the woods, where the hiking trail began, a young man Ella vaguely recognized from around camp was waiting to meet them. Gabriel waved a greeting from the car but showed no sign of getting out.

‘You’re not coming?’ Ella asked.

He shook his head. ‘No. I have to get back to my own assignment. But I’ll be in touch. Good luck.’ Lowering his voice, he added, ‘And don’t tell anyone what I told you.’