Portrait Of An Assassin - Richard Godwin Read online

  “It’s gonna take time.”

  “Are you a spy or something?”

  “No. I’m not a spy.”

  “Whatever it is you really do, you’re not a businessman. Or not a traditional one.”

  “When did you clean up your act?”

  “Years ago. I only drink now, and I don’t sleep with more than one man a week. That’s a joke, by the way.”

  “While I was away, did you notice anyone hanging around?”

  “That again? You see, that’s the thing about you. I’m just starting to feel comfortable when you start all this cloak and dagger stuff.”

  I held up a hand.

  “Okay.”

  “So, Jack, how about coming back for a nightcap? I’ll tell you if I see any weird guys hanging around.”

  I walked her back to her flat.

  It looked good, a lot of cushions, pictures on the wall. The whole idea of home was alien to me.

  She poured a couple of drinks.

  “Look, I’m not hassling you, but I can’t do all the mystery stuff. I told you a lot about myself tonight, I need you to open up.”

  “Give it time.”

  She came over and kissed me on the mouth. She tasted of yearning and desire. The next thing we were fumbling with each other’s clothes.

  I left the next morning.

  XXV

  The big names thought they were calling the shots. They wanted to reel me in. And carve me up.

  I had other plans. My training in sabotage had been set in stone. I was going to shake the branches. I was going to see how solid they were.

  Well, the line broke, the monkeys got choked, and they all went to heaven in a little row boat.

  A couple of days later I noticed that the files I held on Spengler had been wiped. I’d known someone had been trying to hack in and finally they’d been successful. My computer was empty.

  Except, I’d got a copy of the information. Nothing clumsy, nothing they could know about, no hardware footsteps they could follow. No, I’d snapped the pages onscreen with a digital camera, and downloaded it onto a new laptop.

  I’d also set bait: a little time–buying strategy. They’d have seen while browsing my data, that a couple of files had been moved. Files I’d marked Klein and Spengler. Scrambled files. Megabytes of abstract data which meant nothing but which they couldn’t penetrate.

  While they employed the services of a data miner, I’d start to hunt them. Once they’d figured out all the files held were random figures, I’d be holding a gun to their heads.

  So long as they still thought I had something on them I had time. They wouldn’t want me dead before they secured all the information they thought I was holding on them.

  I’d known it for a few days before I confronted them.

  They were sticking to me like glue and I wondered when Klein would put out the word on me.

  I was going to send a clear message back to Morris. Destabilize him.

  I’d seen the car at the corner of the road, and I’d watched them follow me in and out of supermarkets and on pointless errands.

  They were easy enough to set up and they had to be working for Morris.

  He still hadn’t got back to me concerning Spengler and started dodging my calls.

  One morning I went out early, driving just fast enough to make them sweat and then slowing down, so I could corner them.

  I drove to a shopping mall, where I wove in and out of shops frustratingly, darted down some escalators and into the gents, dialled a couple of numbers on my mobile in a cafe, ate, let them get hungry, then left.

  I drove aimlessly for miles, ending up at a multi–storey car park that I’d never known to be full.

  I rapidly accelerated through the floors, stopping abruptly at the top before they could work out what to do.

  They were hanging back a few floors below me.

  I parked and hid behind some disused boxes. There was no one around.

  After about five minutes one guy appeared from the lift, the other on foot.

  They looked around, then went over to my car.

  One of them was about six four, lean, the other five ten and well–muscled. I couldn’t tell if they were tooled up.

  “He’s not up here,” the big one said.

  “He must have gone down the stairs pretty fast.”

  “Do you think he knows we’re tailing him?”

  “Dunno. Best sit back in the car and follow him out when he returns.”

  “No, you stay here. I’ll just go and check the stairs.”

  I waited until he was out of sight and then jumped his colleague.

  I wasn’t going to do any talking, and wanted him out of the way before the other one returned.

  He was totally unprepared and I knocked him out clean the first time. I then dragged his body behind the boxes and waited by the doors to the stairs.

  When his colleague emerged I grabbed him from behind.

  He reached for his weapon but I had him in a lock and heard his arm snap. It sounded like a branch breaking under wet leaves.

  I pulled his piece out and flung it.

  He was on the ground and I started asking questions.

  “Who are you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “One of Morris’s boys?”

  “You’re mad! I was just – Ow!”

  I tightened my hold on his bent arm and applied the pressure.

  “All right. We were sent to protect you.”

  “Bollocks, start talking or I’ll break the other one.”

  He was putting up a good struggle and I knew he wasn’t going to sing that easily, so I pulled his other arm up by the shoulder and kicked against the elbow.

  The crack reverberated like a gunshot in the empty parking lot.

  By now he was screaming. A high–pitched scream more like a little girl’s than a man’s.

  I hauled him over to the edge of the roof and pushed him backwards.

  “Talk or you jump.”

  “We were told to tail you, that’s all. We’re just following orders.”

  “From?”

  “Morris. We don’t know anything else.”

  “What’s your brief?”

  “To find out what your movements are. That’s all.”

  “Okay,” I said. “You tell your boss to call me in an hour, understand?”

  He nodded.

  I punched him hard and he fell, then I drove off.

  On the floor below I saw their car. I slashed two of their tyres and drove away.

  ***

  An hour later my mobile rang.

  Morris was angry, trying to control it.

  “You’re out of order.”

  “No. You tail me and avoid my calls, cut me out of the investigation, I’m going to do things my way. What happened to the line of communication? You think you can use me and discard me?”

  There was a silence.

  “We were trying to protect you.”

  “Against what?”

  “Who. Spengler and his men.”

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, I can take care of myself.”

  “They’re after you.”

  “Tell me.”

  “They’ve ID’d you from Lauren’s flat and they’re stalking you.”

  I knew this was a lie and played along.

  “I have some information too.”

  “Then you need to tell us.”

  I paused.

  “Meet me in an hour.”

  “Where?”

  “The Windmill pub, Clapham Common.”

  He hung up.

  I kept him waiting and by the time I arrived he’d had a few whiskies.

  I’d never seen him look flustered.

  “You know, two of my best men are in hospital.”

  “Oh dear, cracked a couple of fingernails?”

  “One has severe concussion and a broken jaw, the other multiple fracturing of the arm. He won’t work
for months.”

  “Tough.”

  “So what have you got?”

  “This is cosy. Don’t I get a drink?”

  I watched him queue at the bar and got out what I’d put together. A print–out of some of the onscreen shots I’d taken. They’d come out well. It was the tip of the iceberg, but enough to rattle their cages.

  I knew it would smoke him out and corner his boss long enough for me to buy myself time.

  When he came back I put it on the table. Everything I had on Klein and Spengler.

  His face dropped as he sipped his whiskey.

  “This is a conspiracy,” he said.

  “No.”

  “Where did you get this from?”

  “Let me make this very clear,” I said. “Mess with me, and you won’t come out of this smelling of roses. I’ll blow this thing sky high. When you chose to contact and hire me, you stepped out of your world of espionage and government paid spooks. You’re in a criminal world now, we don’t play by your rules. I don’t care much for the government and its pack of liars, or for your ways. There’s more honour among gangsters than your crowd. I am not disposable, and you better start realizing that.”

  “Do you know what powers we have?”

  “Sure. But then again, if you don’t come out of this looking clean and drawing your pension, you may not come out of it at all. Kill me, and I’ll send someone after you. I’ve already put that contingency plan in motion. Anything strange happens to me, and you’re the next hit. That goes for Lauren too, she better be protected properly by your guys.”

  I watched a small vein throb at the corner of his temple. He raised his glass with the measured slowness of someone trying to control his shaking hands. Klein was breathing down his neck, I could smell him.

  “I’ve put our best men on the job.”

  “Yeah well they beat the first couple of monkeys, but make sure she’s safe, that’s all.”

  He was not used to being given orders.

  “Now, going back to Klein,” I said. “This is the deal. You leave me alone and ensure Lauren’s safety until Spengler’s dealt with and anyone who may be connected to this thing, and it’s over. I’ll bury this. One false step, and it’ll go straight to the media.”

  “That’s it?”

  “No. I’ve got more on him and you and you don’t know where to find it. Let’s call it a little insurance policy I’m holding in case you start playing games.

  “We could come to some sort of financial arrangement.”

  “No. You’ve paid me for what I’ve done, but I’m not doing any more for you. Those are my terms. Do we have an agreement?”

  “Okay.”

  “And the other thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “Keep me informed about the progress on Spengler. I want to know everything.”

  “All right.”

  “Why is it taking so long?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “By the fact that Klein doesn’t want to be exposed.”

  He said nothing and I walked away.

  ***

  I kept a regular eye on Lauren, taking her out to dinner and making sure the spooks were still watching her.

  She didn’t mention anyone following her. I wondered when she would notice.

  ***

  A few days after our meeting Morris called me.

  “I have news,” he said.

  “Good.”

  “We’re taking Spengler out tomorrow.”

  “How?”

  “Explosion.”

  “What about his cronies?”

  “Them too. There is a meeting taking place, and we have very good information they will all be there. They won’t survive.”

  ***

  I saw it on the news. A fire bomb of a story.

  The entire wing of a restaurant was blown apart. Spengler and Hinch had taken a private table away from the other diners. They’d made it look like a terrorist attack. Two waiters and a couple of members of the public went down with them. Killing two birds with one stone, I guess.

  Sloppy, but they’d taken care of them. And the innocent blood was on government hands.

  The headlines in the papers the next day read:

  “Police too slow to act on Al Jaeda threat. No warning for diners as lethal bomb blast tears through restaurant.”

  The pictures showed the web of tangled metal and shattered glass. The deep stains on the restaurant floor.

  Reporters mobbed the area and the official story stuck in the public mind. The lie stuck like a fishbone in my throat.

  “The matter is over,” Morris said when he called.

  “Seems like it. Messy job, though. But then, what do you care about a few civilians when you get some free propaganda in?”

  “We’re taking the men off Lauren and this closes the case.”

  “It better. If there’s anyone you’ve missed and they come for me, I’ll come after you.”

  He hung up.

  I’d bought myself time, but not much.

  ***

  Later that day Lauren called me.

  Her voice was shaky, far away.

  “Did you see the news?”

  “The bomb?”

  “Yes. Spengler was one of the diners.”

  “Yeah, I’ve just heard.”

  “That’s spooky.”

  “He was mixing with the wrong crowd. That’s why I was so keen to get you out of there.”

  There was a pause full of thoughts that echoed. I knew where this conversation was going.

  “Who are you?”

  “A friend.”

  “With some powerful connections, it would seem. I don’t like being kept in the dark, Jack.”

  “Trust me,” I said.

  “Why?”

  “I’ve helped you, haven’t I?”

  “Yes. But I’m not stupid.”

  “It would be good to see you.”

  “Give me some time.”

  ***

  I checked the facts and it seemed Morris was telling the truth.

  Spengler and his key men were dead.

  If anyone tailed me now, they had to be sent by Klein.

  XXVI

  I spent a lazy weekend at Lauren’s flat.

  It was disconcerting, feeling at home after all the years of hits and hotel rooms.

  She’d backed off a little and didn’t ask any questions about my past. There was a lull. The line was lying still on the surface of the water, and I knew something was about to break soon. I wanted to be ready.

  Work was quiet, so I took her away for a week to the Caymen Islands.

  I needed to bank all that cash.

  We sunned ourselves, swam and got on as if we’d known each other for years. If she had her suspicions, she kept them to herself. For the time being.

  The night before we were due to return she said:

  “You know, glad as I am that I met you, Jack, we’ve got to stop this charade.” I looked at her. “I think I know what you do, and it’s just a matter of time before you open up to me.”

  I wasn’t sure if she did, but I let the matter lie.

  I dropped her back at her flat when we landed and she returned to her work.

  I’d been doing a lot of thinking about my life and where it was heading. At the end of that week she called me.

  “There are some guys hanging around.”

  I’d been expecting it a long time.

  Unable to find me, they were using her as a tracking device.

  I drove round and knew immediately they weren’t spooks.

  I called her from my mobile.

  “Don’t worry, I’m taking care of it. How long have they been there?”

  “I don’t know. I thought I was imagining it at first, you know, being paranoid, then I realised they were definitely tailing me.”

  “They follow you to work?”

  “I lost them. That’s why they’re outside. Who are they?”

  �
��I’ll tell you when I know. In the meantime, relax, if you look out of the window you’ll see my car.”

  “Oh.” I saw a curtain twitch. “Okay.”

  “I’ll be here for a while. Only call me mobile–to–mobile.”

  I watched them for hours.

  One guy, the bigger one, got out for a pee. He disappeared behind some houses and returned lighting a cigarette. He wore his collar up and had a thick growth of beard.

  The other one went for some coffee. He had a tattoo on his hand.

  Finally, they drove away at midnight.

  I followed from a distance.

  After an hour the car pulled up at a house in White City. The guy with the tattoo got out.

  I followed the car for a further twenty minutes or so as it wove its way into Hammersmith. Finally it stopped in the street outside some flats.

  I parked on the other side of the road as the big guy got out and started walking. I followed and jumped him as he was fumbling for his keys by the stairs to a darkened basement.

  He went crashing down headfirst and landed badly.

  I jumped on him and kicked him hard enough to break a few bones.

  “What do you want with Lauren Smiles?”

  “Okay! Okay! Fuck! You’ve broken my arm.”

  “That’s not all I’ll break if you don’t start giving me some answers.”

  “I’m just following orders.”

  “Whose orders?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I hit him so hard he started to cough blood.

  “Whose orders?”

  “Klein.”

  “Well tell him to back off. And tell your buddy if he doesn’t back off, I’ll do him too, understand?”

  “I understand.”

  “If I hear you’ve been hassling her again, I’ll kill you, and it won’t be pleasant. Right?”

  “Right.”

  I hit him again for good measure and left him staggering around in his own blood before going back to Lauren.

  I reassured her everything was okay, and they were gone.

  “Just tell me immediately next time if you see anything,” I said.