Piers Venmore-Rowland - Latent Hazard

‘About fourteen months ago,’ answered Jeremy. ‘He makes a good addition to our team, doesn’t he, sir?’ added a beaming Jeremy. ‘It seems Colonel Matlik trusts him more than you or me!’

Ewan nodded, deep in thought. ‘Fourteen months ago… That ties in with the switch in the bank payments. So we can assume Mr Koit is still out there.’

‘That makes sense,’ added Jeremy. ‘And when Radu Dranoff arrived to help Aslan Popovskaya, I bet it was Pinja Koit who arranged it. He must have been involved behind the scenes coordinating all the dirty work. As I see it, he was so incensed by you, Rafi, that he sent Dranoff to take you out. Unfortunately, I don’t see why he shouldn’t still be pissed off.’

Rafi looked shocked. He thought for a moment. ‘How do you think Jameel Furud and Basel Talal’s charity, the suicide bombers and Kaleem Shah fitted in?’

‘I am not sure,’ said Ewan. ‘The attack on the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston and the style of Kaleem Shah’s operation have had me thinking. I am wondering whether it was the terrorists’ insurance policy to get the Iranians on their side.’

‘Pardon?’ said Rafi.

‘Well, let us assume for one moment that the terrorists’ plans had been successful; Maryam, the sheikh, Jameel and Talal would have become pariahs in the Western world and would have needed somewhere to go to escape the reach of our laws.’

‘Hence Iran?’ asked Jeremy.

‘That is my thinking,’ said Ewan. ‘Especially as they are prevented from having any nuclear capabilities. Iran doesn’t like being excluded from the nuclear club and they can’t have been happy with the UK’s decision to upgrade Trident. One set of rules for us and another for them.’

‘So do you reckon Pinja Koit is in Pakistan or Iran regrouping?’ asked Rafi.

‘Yes; probably Pakistan,’ replied Ewan.

‘But they have one serious problem,’ interjected Rafi. ‘They will have lost their source of funding!’

‘Good point,’ said Ewan, ‘but we shouldn’t underestimate Koit’s capabilities. I will bring MI6 up to speed and make tracking him down a priority.’

‘In the meantime,’ added Jeremy, ‘if I was you, Rafi, I’d try and avoid dark alleyways – and that applies to Kate as well.’

‘On the bright side, after Newquay, we at MI5 and the SAS owe you one, so we will do our best to keep an eye on you,’ promised Ewan.

Rafi was about to reply, when Saara ambled over. ‘So this is where you have got to!’ She was beaming. ‘Steve is making a real night of it. I doubt whether I’ll get him home for hours. I’ve given Kate my set of keys, in case you want to leave before us. Last I saw of her she was looking for you.’.

Jeremy smiled at Rafi. ‘Let’s chat some more back in the office.’

Rafi spotted Kate in the distance. He got up and shook hands with Ewan. ‘Thank you for bringing me up to speed. If you will excuse me, I should go and see why Kate wanted me.’

‘It has been a pleasure talking to you… And Rafi, please, remember to keep Jeremy in the loop with all your thinking. I sense that these are still treacherous times,’ added Ewan.

Rafi, with Saara beside him, went off to find Kate.

Kate greeted him with a hug and a lingering kiss, and then jangled Saara’s keys in front of his nose. ‘How’s about we say our remaining few goodbyes and then try out the new bed in your flat?’ she asked.

‘Great idea,’ Rafi replied.

He looked at her smiling face and realised that she made him feel alive. He had traded the comfy and highly paid world of the City for the adrenaline-filled world of counterterrorism, and to his surprise he wondered what he had ever seen in his previous existence.

Then he saw in Kate’s eyes the same fire that had burned that first night they were in Luxembourg and with a flutter of her eyelashes, any worries he had about the jeopardy that lay ahead vanished.