Matthew Dunn - Spycatcher

It is an appealing thought to become reacquainted with you. It is important, however, that you understand that since we knew each other I have grown to become a cautious and suspicious man. The information you say you carry may prove invaluable to me. It may also be a means to expose and capture me. I do hope that is not the case.

But I do wish to trust you, and I have an idea how that can be achieved. Call your secret British friend and tell him to meet you somewhere. That place must not be in Croatia, as, if you are telling me the truth, it is important that you do not actually draw him close to you. When the meeting has been arranged, you must give me the man’s name and tell me where he will be. It will be me, rather than you, who will then meet the British man.

For now we can continue to communicate via the embassy in Zagreb.

Your friend

Will handed the letter to Patrick, who read it and smiled.

Will rested his head on interlocked hands. “I thought he might go straight for a meeting with Lana.”

“Then you’ve underestimated your quarry. I believe he’s too cautious to take the bait on the first pass.” Patrick folded his arms. “But there are seven positive points to this letter.”

Will pushed himself up from his chair and walked to a window. He thought for a while before nodding and turning. “We’ve successfully tested a line of communication to the man; he’s responded; the response has been very quick; the man writes as if he is the man who knew Lana during the war in Bosnia; he’s interested in me; he’s given Lana an instruction; and he wants to hear from her again.”

“Exactly.” Patrick handed the letter to Laith and said quietly, “Memorize this letter and relay its contents to Roger.”

Will stuffed his hands in his pockets. “We can’t agree to his terms-not yet, in any case.”

“I agree.” Patrick walked and stood close to Will. “If she were genuine, it would be illogical for Lana to follow his instructions.”

“So Megiddo is testing her?”

“I think so.”

Laith spoke. “How do we know that the man who wrote this letter is Megiddo? It could have been written by anyone from within the Qods Force. Megiddo may still be a dead and distant memory.”

Will and Patrick turned to look at the CIA paramilitary man. It was Patrick who spoke to Laith.

“The letter was handwritten by the defense attache of the Iranian embassy in Zagreb. The man appears to have immature tradecraft skills due to his carelessness with the letter’s stationery. Such lack of tradecraft means the man has no special credentials, so he would have reported Lana’s communication to those who do have such credentials. He would have been scared to have done anything otherwise. In turn we can be confident that the response letter was dictated to him by someone else, and that person clearly feels that for the time being he has to rely on the DA to maintain contact with Lana.”

“You’re right, though, Laith.” Will nodded at the ex-Delta operative. “We don’t know that the letter was dictated by Megiddo. At the moment it’s convenient for us to think that way because of the speed of his response, but it could well be a response from others within the IRGC.”

A cell phone rang, and it was Laith who reached into a pocket to answer the call. He listened and then nodded as he said, “All right, I’ll be on the next available flight.” He ended the call and looked at Patrick and Will. “I should not have been brought here. One hour ago Lana took a walk through Zagreb’s old town. As you would expect, Roger and Ben followed her. As you may not have expected, so did an Iranian surveillance team of six men and one woman.”

Patrick shook his head and muttered, “He doesn’t trust her.”

“And why should he?” Will shouted the words. “I told you and Alistair that she shouldn’t have been deployed! I told you it was too dangerous!” He pointed a finger at Patrick. “Lana’s safety is now in serious jeopardy.”

At 7:00 P.M., Will watched Roger walk up to his table in the Piano Bar of the Sheraton Zagreb Hotel. As he seated himself opposite Will, a waiter approached them, but Roger waved the man away.

“Where’s Lana?” Will pushed his cup of tea to one side.

“She’s back in her room, meaning that the Iranian surveillance team has scaled back its coverage of her, meaning I’m able to be here with you right now.” He checked his watch. “So far she’s dined in her hotel, but if this evening she decides to do otherwise, I’ll have to head straight off.”

Will sighed. “Is she okay? Safe?”

Roger smiled a little. “You care about her, don’t you? In my experience it’s unusual for intelligence officers to care about the people they deploy.”

Will nodded. “Tell me about the Iranian team.”

Roger’s smile brightened. “They’re good. They move around Lana with experienced drills, and they’ve obviously analyzed this city, because they use its routes with confidence.”

“Are there any indications they might have spotted your team?”

All vestiges of a smile vanished. “Impossible. But you made a very good call not to tell Lana about me and my men. If she knew we were around her, there’s a strong likelihood that her body language would betray her awareness of us to the Iranians.”

“What are their intentions?”

“It’s too early to be certain at this stage, but so far they’re just watchers.”

Will breathed in deeply. “I need to see her this evening to help her write another letter. How can I get to her room without being spotted?”

Roger said nothing for a moment and seemed to be deep in thought. He then said, “Send her an SMS saying that you’re in town and would love to meet her for a drink at the Khala bar on Nova Ves at nine-thirty tonight. Tell her that if you’re not there by ten P.M., it’s imperative she return straight to her bedroom and stay there for the rest of the night.” Roger reached into one of his pants pockets. “Here’s a spare copy of her room’s swipe key. You of course don’t meet her at the bar but let yourself into her room while she’s out.”

“Drawing the Iranians away from her hotel.” Will frowned as he took possession of the key. “That was quick work getting a copy of this.”

Roger shrugged. “Even though their intentions toward her currently appear passive, I need to know what we should do if Lana is attacked by the team.”

Will looked around before returning his gaze to Roger. “If you ask Patrick that question, he will rightly tell you that the priority is Megiddo. That if you step in to prevent Lana from being snatched or assassinated, our operation has failed. That all you can do in that situation is watch it happen and then follow the team with the hope they’ll lead us to their master.” He paused and leaned in close to Roger. “But you work with me. And we do not sacrifice innocent women.”

Roger responded with a nod. “You really are unlike other intelligence officers I’ve worked with.” He smiled. “I’m glad.”

Will tapped a finger on the table, lost in thought. He said, “When she gets back to the hotel around ten P.M., the Iranians will be with her, so I’ll be trapped in her room. How can I leave?”

Roger exhaled. “You can’t until she leaves and draws them well away from her hotel again. For her to do that in the middle of the night would look suspicious. Plus, I presume you don’t want to tell her that she has seven Iranian intelligence operatives now following her. You’ll have to stay with her until she leaves the hotel after breakfast.”

Will shook his head. “She’ll misinterpret my intentions.”