The Phoenix

Today’s gathering, however, was not a social event. It was an urgently convened business meeting, and the mood was grim.

‘Twenty-six years of work, Mark. Twenty-six years of waiting, of biding our time. And it was all for nothing.’

Nathan Maslow glowered at Mark Redmayne accusingly. As The Group’s single largest financial donor, Nathan felt entitled to an explanation as to how, exactly, Ella Praeger had been allowed to simply ‘disappear’.

‘It’s not for nothing,’ Redmayne countered, his jaw rigid with tension. He resented Nathan Maslow’s assumption of superiority, especially coming from a man who dressed like a buffoon in ‘Nantucket red’ shorts, docksiders, and a polo shirt covered in lobster motifs. ‘I’m as frustrated as you are, Nathan, but we’ll find her.’

‘Will we? I don’t see how, when she can tune in to every communication we make, every attempt to track her down.’

‘That’s not strictly true …’ Redmayne ventured, but Nathan wasn’t done yet.

‘The fact is she should never have been on active operations in the first place!’ he snapped. ‘Her entire value is as a reconnaissance tool. To gather intelligence.’

‘With respect,’ Professor Dixon interjected from his seat by the door, ‘the way Ella’s abilities function mean that she has to be in relatively close proximity to any target signal in order to intercept it. We were working on increasing her range, but unfortunately we ran out of time. She was always going to have to accompany an agent on ops.’

‘Not this agent,’ Nathan growled, simmering with bottled anger like an over-boiled kettle. ‘Everybody knows Gabriel’s the biggest womanizer in your entire organization. Right, Katherine?’

Katherine MacAvoy blushed vermilion. How on earth had Nathan Maslow got wind of her affair with Gabriel? It was almost a decade ago and almost nobody knew. She glanced suspiciously at Mark Redmayne. The bastard must have let something slip on the golf course! ‘That’s certainly his reputation,’ she answered cautiously.

‘That’s what’s happened here, isn’t it?’ said Nathan. ‘She’s fallen for him and now he’s calling the shots. They’re together somewhere, and they’re going to try to go after Athena Petridis with no backup, and Ella’s going to get herself killed!’

Mark Redmayne stood up and walked over to the window, his hand thrust deep in the pockets. He longed to be able to turn around and deliver a stinging comeback, to put Nathan Maslow in his place. But the fact was, his biggest donor had just neatly articulated his own fears in a nutshell.

‘Look,’ he said brusquely. ‘I won’t sugar-coat it. Ella’s disappearance is a blow.’

‘You think so?’ Maslow sneered.

‘And yes, she could be at risk,’ Mark went on, ignoring him. ‘But I am confident that the situation is salvageable. We will find her, and Gabriel. In the meantime, let’s try to focus on the positives. Makis Alexiadis is dead, which is good in itself, and even better in that it means Athena is going to have to start making moves, reaching out to allies and so forth. She can no longer stay invisible, not completely.’

‘Hmmm,’ Maslow grunted. ‘We’ll see.’

‘When we find and kill Athena, Ella will have no reason to stay on in Europe.’

‘Sure she will,’ said Nathan. ‘She’ll have lover-boy.’

‘No,’ Mark Redmayne contradicted him bluntly. ‘She’s there to avenge her mother’s death. That’s her primary motivation. Whatever she feels for Gabriel will evaporate once Athena’s been liquidated and the adrenaline rush of the mission is gone. Ella will return to the States. Then we can work on undoing whatever damage Gabriel may have done.’

‘I agree,’ Professor Dix said quietly. ‘The file we gave her on Rachel Praeger’s murder was compelling. Ella’s doing this for her mother’s sake – not for ours, or Gabriel’s, or anyone else’s.’

‘I agree too,’ said Katherine. ‘And, even if we’re wrong, he will tire of her once Athena’s dead,’ she added, knowingly. ‘His big sexual motivator is danger, the thrill of the chase. After that’s gone, so is he.’

Nathan Maslow withdrew into angry silence. Mark Redmayne continued to stare out to sea, his gaze fixed on a lone sailboat, barely visible on the shimmering horizon.

He hadn’t said anything to Nathan Maslow, or the others, as he didn’t want to raise anyone’s expectations. But just a few hours ago he’d gotten word of a possible new location for Athena. Admittedly the address he’d been given seemed wildly improbable. Not even Athena Petridis would be that bold, not when she knew The Group would be looking for her.

On the other hand, it was good intelligence from a trusted source. And it was Athena who’d brazenly sent the message alerting the world to her return, with the brand on the little boy’s foot. She wanted us to know she was alive. That we failed twelve years ago. She wanted us to hunt her. Like Gabriel, it seemed, on some level Athena Petridis must get off on the thrill of the chase.

Well, now the chase was on.

All Mark Redmayne had to d

o was find her before Ella did.

Ella called Gabriel from her London hotel room.

‘Why are you calling me?’ His voice sounded more amused than annoyed. ‘I thought we agreed no voice calls unless it’s an emergency.’

‘I forgot. What are you doing on Saturday night?’