“There’s a little bar just around the corner—I thought we’d go there.”
“Sure,” said Finn a little too gratefully, sensing they didn’t have anything concrete on him yet. She might be trying to trap him, to get him to confirm their suspicions, but for the time being it was no more than that. “So, can you tell me now what you’re doing here, why I didn’t know you were coming?”
“Ed’s the only person who knew I was coming. And officially, I’m here to sort out this whole bloody mess with the Kremlin mole and Aleksandr Naumenko. Tiresome. I’m having dinner tonight with the people at the embassy, just trying to calm them down, reassure them that our operations aren’t going to compromise theirs.” She pointed as she headed off across the street, as if Finn were the visitor. “This way.”
Finn laughed a little, and noticed as he crossed that the driver was following some way behind, on foot. More importantly, Finn had latched on to one crucial word in what Louisa had said, and he held on to it now with a little too much hope—he could feel his heartbeat skipping along again.
“You said that’s why you’re here officially. What did you mean by that?”
“You’re a smart young chap, Finn, what do you think? Kremlin moles! My only interest in that story is that it gave me a reasonably plausible cover for this visit.”
“So you don’t believe it?”
“Do you?”
Finn shrugged. “Point taken.” He was regaining control, his mind slipping into gear, responding as if there really was no truth to the story.
“No, the unofficial but primary reason for my visit is to offer you an opportunity—one last hurrah.”
“A chance to go out in a blaze of glory?”
They’d reached the bar, but she hesitated at the door as she said, “Not quite, but a chance to do a very great service for your country.”
She smiled, perhaps at how arch that line had sounded, then pushed open the door to the warmth and the hubbub of voices inside. Finn had been in here a couple of times—once with Sofi, once with Harry—but no more than that. It was a traditional place, but with a youngish crowd of students, creative types. It was half empty this early in the evening, and they were able to choose a table in the corner with clear views. As they ordered their drinks, the driver came in and strolled to the bar.
“Charming place,” said Louisa, then looked at Finn. “You’ll know the Russians arrested Demidov last week.”
“Of course.”
“And they’ve done a pretty good job on dismantling his little fiefdom. But in the process it’s given us the chance to collaborate and wrap up several different pieces of business.”
Their drinks arrived and they raised glasses, but Louisa didn’t drink from hers. Finn took a small sip and put his glass back on the table.
“We alerted the Russians that there was a small cargo ship bound for St. Petersburg with a ton or so of cocaine onboard. It’s due to arrive next weekend. The Russians decided to monitor it, use it as a chance to round up any of Demidov’s people who might have escaped the net. But then we picked up on something very interesting—it seems one of his men has decided to go it alone, because the ship is now going to make an unscheduled stop at a disused dock in Kaliningrad. So we suggested this might provide an opportunity to remove a thorn in their sides and ours. Hence this operation—Sparrowhawk.”
“I’m following, Louisa, but if you’re expecting me to second guess, I have no idea where this is going.”
“Don’t worry, you’re not losing your touch. This is complicated. But this part of the plan is quite simple, and it involves Karasek. We’ll talk through the cover story and the details later, but in short, you go to Karasek, tell him you’re leaving, that you want a retirement plan. You tell him about the ship docking in Kaliningrad—no one else knows about it, only you—giving him the opportunity to go in there and steal a nice big container full of marching powder.”
Finn laughed at her use of slang—he always imagined Louisa as the headmistress of a girls’ boarding school—but his thoughts were tumbling over each other. He wasn’t sure how he could decline her offer without arousing suspicion, but the parallels were frightening.
They wanted Finn to deal with Karasek, who was currently raging because a girl he’d wanted had gone missing—a girl Finn had spirited away. They wanted Finn to pretend he was corrupt, that he was looking for a payoff, when he’d already had his payoff because, of course, he was corrupt.
“So the Russians get to intercept the shipment and take Karasek out in the process—assuming Karasek falls for it.”
“You’re persuasive, I’m sure he’ll fall for it.”
“But apart from taking Karasek out, I’m not sure what we get out of it.”
“Before I say any more, I need to know whether you’re in. Chances are, you’ll be seen as a traitor by your colleagues, you’ll leave under a cloud, and only a small number of people will know the service you’ll have rendered.”