Ghosts

“I know. But… I don’t really know you, Milton, and that’s my only leverage. If I let you have it and it goes wrong…”

“Come on, think. What’s that leverage really worth? How much good has it done you?”

“And how would giving it to the Russians help me?”

“Who said that I was going to give it to them?”

“Then what?”

He rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. “There are other ways to make this work.”

“It’s in England.”

“Okay.”

“And so is my daughter. How are you going to get her? It’s England. You can’t go back just like I can’t go back. Control will kill you.”

“Someone has to go back. It might as well be me. I can’t keep ru

Chapter Thirty-Two

A

“Thank you for coming,” A

It wasn’t going to end up the way she wanted.

“Let’s be quick,” Beatrix said. “There are things we need to be doing.”

“I need to know what you have pla

“I could just leave,” Beatrix said. “I can go wherever I want.”

“But he can’t,” she said, gesturing towards Milton.

“What are you talking about? He can go wherever he wants.”

“Let me put it another way,” she said, managing to put a little irritation in her voice. “You can both go wherever you want, whenever you want, but if Mr. Milton cares about Mr. Pope, you’ll do this on my terms.”

“I don’t care about him,” Beatrix said. “I hardly know him, and it was a long time ago. You need me, and you’ll need to do better than that.”

A

“She is,” he said, and, turning to Beatrix, he added, “Go easy on her. She’s got her orders.”

Beatrix sat back and raised her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Fine. She’s your problem, not mine.”

Milton leant forwards and looked into A

“Why can’t she go?”

“England isn’t safe for her.”

“It’s not safe for you.”

“It’s a risk I’m prepared to take. The items are hidden. It doesn’t have to be Beatrix who collects them. She just needs to tell me where they are.”

“And what about her? What does she do?”

“She’s going to stay here.”

“And she’ll give up her secrets just like that?” She looked at Beatrix again and said, accusatorially, “What’s in it for you?”

Beatrix sighed. Milton looked at her, and could see A

A

“That’s none of your business,” Beatrix said.

“I think it is.”

“He has my daughter. If I go back, and he knows sbout it, she isn’t safe. Alright? Is that a good enough reason for you?”

“Your daughter…”

“A

She shook her head, frowning angrily. “It’s my operation,” she said. “It’s my decision.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“Fine.” She clenched her jaw. “We go to London.”

PART FIVE

LONDON

Chapter Thirty-Three

Milton stood on the edge of the small airfield, looking at the rows of planes lined up at the side of the grass strip. It had been a long day and a half of travel and there was still more to come. A

They had discussed the best way to get into the country when they returned to the hotel. Milton had explained that there was no way that he would be able to get in through the airports, the tu

“Where are you pla

“Back to Bournemouth,” the man said.

“We will drive from there to London,” A

“If you can get me into the country, I can handle the rest,” he said.

The pilot opened the cabin door and pulled himself inside. A