Poster Boy, page 18
“Yes, sir.”
I was seething, but mostly at myself. I’d have to just suck it up and wait for things to blow over. I knew Mills would calm down by the morning. I found the little Muslim girl in Interview C, crying all over the table. No wonder she was so pally with Rosa, they were both pathetic. She didn’t say anything as I led her out the back door and into the car. But as we pulled away she found a squeaky, nasal voice.
“Where are we going?”
“Airport,” I replied. “You’re going back to where you came from.”
“You don’t need a plane to get to Kent,” she said.
Oh, a little sass in there after all then.
“Australia, smart-arse. But watch your mouth or I might accidentally drop you in the Middle East.”
“But I have to see Rosa. I have to see if she’s okay.”
“Not gonna happen, chicklet.”
She shuffled, straightened up and tried to look assertive. “Then I demand you take me to the Australian embassy.”
I nearly choked. “Embassy? Jeez, you have been gone a long time, haven’t you?”
“Since before the ERP came to power, thankfully.”
“Yeah, well, wise move. Just you stay put this time, get it?” I pulled at the scarf around her head. “And take this fucking turban off before we get out.”
She scowled. “It’s a hijab.”
“I don’t care if it’s the crown fucking jewels, it’s got you in enough trouble today. You really want more public harassment?”
“No. But it won’t make any difference. I’m all over the internet, they’ll recognise my face.”
“Sweetheart, no one was looking at your face. No one sees past that rag.”
She stared at me, and I felt a little shiver. Rosa always says she has eyes that see who you really are. I’d not have believed her if I hadn’t felt it too. Not that I ever told Rosa that. She has no clue I ever met her precious ‘star’. But I had an uneasy feeling that she saw through the PID front. And that she understood.
“And is that how things should be?” she asked me, still staring.
“It’s not about what should and shouldn’t be, honey. It’s about what is.”
She smiled, and nodded. It was eerie.
“I understand. But I must speak to Rosa.”
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
“Of course. She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Well, then I’m going to level with you. You being seen with her caused a shower of shit for us. We can deal with it; we can protect her even. But only if you’re not in the picture.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me put it simply. That thing on your head makes you a terrorist as far as almost everyone in this country is concerned. If you continue to keep in contact, her life will be ruined. Some armchair warrior somewhere will find evidence you’re in touch. It’ll go nuclear. There’ll be a level of public outcry even the PIDS can’t control. Someone might even decide traitors like her need a bit of vigilante justice. If you care about her, stay away. Because while you sun yourself on your nice Australian beaches, she’s gonna be here. Dealing with this shit.”
She turned toward the window and said nothing, for at least fifteen miles. She was pissing me off. Partly because I couldn’t read her, and partly because I respected that. I hate manipulating people I respect. Luckily, I don’t come across very many of them. Eventually she broke her silence.
“I understand where you’re coming from. Things here are much worse than I knew, and our news doesn’t shy away from its condemnation of your government. I accept that, although I am free from it, Rosa still has to make a life here. And for all the world I would not make that any harder than it has to be. So, for her sake, I will do as you suggest. But I need to ask you, will you do one thing for me?”
I wasn’t happy with this turnaround, but whatever it took to get her to play along was what I needed to do.
“And what would that be?” I asked.
“Tell her. Tell her why. I will not contact her again, at least until your Prime Minister is on the scrapheap where he belongs. But only if you promise me you will tell her it is for her sake. Tell her I love her, and she will always be welcome to leave this cesspit of a country and come join her friends across the world.”
Yeah. Like hell I would.
“I promise, Miss Afzal,” I said. “It will be the first thing I do.”
I was worried for a split second that those eyes really did have some way of seeing truth. But she seemed satisfied, so I guess she wasn’t the all-knowing benevolent oracle Rosa built her up to be. She was just a teen. Less easily played than Rosa, but playable nonetheless. She even took her hijab off when we reached the airport. No one recognised her without that. I babysat her until she boarded, then headed back to the car, confident that was the last I would ever see or hear of her.
All in all, the evening had turned out all right. This little mess could be easily fixed with the girl out of the way. Some public gesture by Rosa ought to do it, along with a few articles suggesting she had been targeted in her vulnerable state. We could get the public feeling sorry for her easily enough. And, most importantly, the Trojan had been removed. Now Kyle could go ahead and leak the info.
I was just about to set off for HQ when my Shades beeped, a number I didn’t recognise, but I answered.
“Zara…” It was Cole, “Where are you, this is an emergency!”
“Don’t worry, I know. That’s why I rushed off, remember? I’ve got it all in hand.”
“What are you talking about? How could you know, I’ve only just realised myself.”
“Well, you were… busy. But it’s done. I’ve got rid of the Muslim girl.”
“Muslim girl? What Muslim girl? I’m talking about that damned prostitute! She’s stolen my Shades!”
Oh, shit. I reached into my pocket. I still had his Shades.
I sped across town to the area just outside Camden where I’d picked up the girl earlier, praying she’d be back touting for business. It didn’t take long to spot her. She was leaning through the window of a Ford Focus, negotiating her next encounter. I pulled over on the red line, switched on my hazards and dashed over to her. The chill of the night air reminded me I was still going commando.
She looked up from her greasy potential punter and smiled when she recognised me.
“Back for more so soon, honey?” she asked. “I’m afraid I’m doing business with this fine gentleman right now. But I’ve an opening tomorrow.”
“Come with me. Now,” I hissed.
“Hey! Back off,” the fat, ruddy-faced guy in the Ford yelled at me. “She’s dealing with me. She don’t want no skinny lezzo. She’s about to get some real meat, ain’t that right?”
The girl smiled. “Sure is.” She reached through the open window and stroked his chin. I didn’t have time for this shit. I pulled out my PID badge and flashed it at him.
“Shit!” He sped away so fast he nearly took her arm off.
“Well, fuck!” She glared at me. “What did you do that for? He’s a regular and you’ve gone and spooked him. I gotta make a living, you know.”
“You’ll be compensated,” I snapped. “Just get in the car.”
“Well,” she softened, “it seems my schedule just opened up, so I guess I could squeeze in a return trip to the Plaza. Perhaps you’ll actually come good on the champagne this time?”
“We’re not going to the Plaza.”
“Well, where are we going then? I know you missed out earlier, honey, but I don’t usually do girls as a rule. Only as part of a threesome.”
“I don’t want to fuck you,” I said. “We need to go see a friend of mine.”
“All right,” she strapped herself in. “You seem to have some rather high-flying friends, with deep pockets, so I’ll trust you. I usually like to know where I’m going though. You gotta be careful in this game.”
That’s fucking logic for you. It’s fine to get in a stranger’s car, but only if they tell you where you’re going. I wanted to point out that her safety plan had a bigger hole in it than she did, but I gritted my teeth and just kept driving.
When we pulled up outside the dilapidated terrace where Kyle was hiding out she screwed up her nose.
“Here?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, princess,” I said. “I didn’t realise you had such high standards.”
“All right,” she said. “No need to get pissy. I was just expecting something else, that’s all. But as long as I get paid I don’t really care.”
“Good,” I said. “Now follow me.”
Kyle jumped up from the sofa when he heard me open the door.
“Terri?” he called out.
“Yeah, it’s me. But there’s something you should—”
“Terri?” The girl followed me inside, pulling her coat a little tighter around her as she surveyed the filthy walls. “I thought your name was Zara?”
Kyle was only wearing his boxers. Not an appealing sight at the best of times. Combined with the open-mouthed shock it looked almost comical.
“What the fuck, Terri?” He picked up a blanket and chucked it over the laptops and Shades scattered all over the kitchen side. “Who is this? What the hell are you doing bringing someone here?”
“Is this the client?” She plastered a smile over her disgust. “Great to meet you, stud.”
“You bought me a whore?” his face was red now. “What the actual fuck? Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Right,” I said, “both of you sit down, shut up, and listen to me. We are in deep shit.”
They both sat down slowly, staring at me like naughty school children.
“Kyle,” I said, “I need you to sort out a fake passport for this… working girl. She needs to get out of the country. Now.”
“What are you talking about?” The girl stood up. “I already told you I won’t rat on your precious PM.”
“It’s not about that.” I sighed. “Unfortunately, the Prime Minister believes you have stolen his Shades.”
“What?” she said. “You stole his Shades, I saw you do it!”
“I know,” I said. “But he can’t know that, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to take the rap for it.”
“Wait,” Kyle said. “Back up, why does he think his Shades have been stolen?”
I pulled them out of my pocket.
“Fuck, Terri! Couldn’t you get the Trojan off?”
“Of course I could! I’m not stupid! But… there was an emergency at work, I had to go. And, well… I forgot I had them. So after he was done with missy here, he went to make a call and discovered they were missing. So he put two and two together and came up with a thieving prostitute.”
“Oh, shit.” Kyle started pacing. “Who knows?”
“No one,” I said. “Only me. Funny, he doesn’t want anyone knowing about his little recreational sport. I told him to give me a couple of hours to sort it, but if I don’t get them back to him soon he’ll have to get the PIDs involved.”
“So, what the fuck do we do?”
“I go take these back to Cole, I’ll tell him I took care of her. Meanwhile you get her some papers and then we get her on a plane.”
“I don’t want to leave!” she protested. “Why the fuck should I? I’m not a thief!”
“Well, he ain’t finding out it was me, honey,” I snapped. “So I’d say emigrating was your best option.”
“Are you insane, Terri?” Kyle said. “What’s to stop her selling her story to the press once she’s out of the country? How the hell can we trust her?”
“I’ll pay her for her silence,” I said. “Seriously, Kyle, what other option is there?”
“Who are you people?” The girl was getting hysterical. She stared at Kyle. “I know you, I fucking know you! I’ve seen you in the papers! You’re that guy, the one they’re after.” She started backing up toward the door. “Holy shit! You guys are Gridless!”
“Shut up!” Kyle launched forward, grabbed her by her coat and threw her down on the sofa. “Well, that’s just fucking great, Terri! Why didn’t you just call the cops on me yourself?”
My Shades beeped, fucking Greyson. I had to take it; I’d already been AWOL when it kicked off earlier. “Just calm the fuck down, both of you!” I snapped. “I’m going to take this call, and when I come back we’re going to sort this mess out, right?”
I left them scowling at one another and stepped outside to answer Greyson. I wish I hadn’t. He was only calling to big himself up.
“I thought you’d want me to keep you in loop, Jinks, even though Mills took you off Rosa.”
How fucking thoughtful. All he really wanted to do was brag that he’d talked her round and we wouldn’t get any more grief from her. He even got her to agree to get chipped for the cameras, to try to repair her public image. I gave him the ego stroking he was angling for, and got off the call as quick as I could. But not quickly enough.
The girl lay motionless on the couch. One arm dangled down toward the floor, the other slumped across her ample chest. Her eyes were wide, he mouth set open in a silent scream. Her skin looked like plastic, more sex doll than sex worker. Behind her, Kyle stood panting with a scarf wrapped round his clenched fists. The steely look on his face was almost as frightening as the corpse he stared at.
“You shouldn’t have brought her here, Terri,” he said in between gulping breaths. “You gave me no choice.”
“Jesus, Kyle!” I pulled the door shut behind me. “There’s always a choice. I was taking care of it.”
“Well, excuse me if I don’t feel like trusting my life to a hired slut.”
“You didn’t have to kill her!”
“Yes, I did. If you could take your head out of your arse for two seconds you’d see that’s exactly what I had to do.”
“She wouldn’t have turned us in, I’d have made sure of it.”
“And how do I know that? Her word? Your word? Sometimes I think you’re a bit too fucking sure of yourself. There was only one way out of this, Terri, and you didn’t have the balls to do it.”
“We’re not killers, Kyle! Murdering innocent people is not the aim of the game here.”
“Well maybe the stakes got a little higher when you fucked up and let everyone get caught, eh? Or maybe you should have taken care of your own mess and not brought it to my fucking safe house! I am not risking jail for the sake of some fucking whore. Get your head in check, surely you can see what a risk it would be to let her walk away?”
He was right. I knew it deep down. We’d never really be sure, even if she was on the other side of the world. Maybe some reporter somewhere would offer her more for her story than I could for her silence. It was the cleanest solution. The mission not the man. I guess that holds true for innocent bystanders too. Collateral damage. But I was never that ruthless. Never could write off life like that. I never wanted us to be like them.
And I was shocked. I never knew Kyle had it in him. To me he was just the hacker geek. I suppose I’ve got a reputation for being more ruthless than I really am, and maybe no one ever realised just how ruthless he could be when it came to saving his own skin.
So now we had a dead body to deal with. Not a major issue in itself, Cole had plenty of contacts who could help. But I couldn’t have government workers coming here. We’d have to get the body somewhere else. At least there wasn’t any blood. Kyle’s method of despatch had that going for it.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking straight, been a hell of a night. But we’ve got to get this corpse out of here, and I can’t carry her on my own.”
“I can’t leave! You know that.”
“There’s no CCTV on this street, let’s just get her to the garages round the corner. C’mon, it’s past 2am. Shove a hoody on, keep your face down, it’ll be fine. It’s either that or she stays here and decomposes in your living room. Besides which, if I don’t contact Cole within the hour he’s going to get jumpy, he’s freaking out already. I promised him I’d sort this.”
He reluctantly agreed. We rolled her up in the large, vomit-stained rug that lay wonky on the cracked wooden flooring. We couldn’t have looked more suspicious, two hooded figures hauling a mass wrapped in carpet down the street in the dead of night. But the only people out at this time round here were up to their own crimes. More concerned about not being caught themselves than what anyone else was up to.
We reached the garages and unrolled the rug. She fell face down on the gravel and I couldn’t help but pull her skirt down to cover her modesty. She should at least have some dignity in death, even if she didn’t in life. I took the scarf from Kyle and shoved it in my pocket. There’d be no fingerprinting to worry about. This murder would go unreported. Cole would make sure of it.
“Right, get going,” I snapped at Kyle. “I’ll give you two minutes to get back, then I’m calling in.”
“Okay.” Kyle struggled to secure the rug under his arm. “You got this straight?”
“Of course. I found her on the corner there, touting for business. Demanded she gave Cole’s Shades back, which she did. But she threatened to go to the press, so I had no choice but to silence her. Don’t worry, he’ll buy it. But it goes without saying that we’ll have to delay the info leak. Can’t have him thinking it had something to do with the theft.”
Kyle nodded. “All right. I’ll sit on it, but not for too long, eh?”
He left, jogging as fast as he could with the cumbersome rug under his arm.
I waited a few minutes. Then I made the call.
7
ROSA
When I finally left the interview room, Soheila was on a plane home. They made sure of that.
But Greyson was good. So good that by the time they told me my star was somewhere over Europe, I believed it was a good thing. Yet again, I got played. A person in shock is very susceptible to suggestion. And boy was I in shock. Even after several warm drinks, and hours spent in the quiet, secure and sparsely furnished room at PID HQ, I was still trembling at the memory of the crowds, and the violence of their voices.
