Andy McNab: Payback

‘But Danny won’t be online in the morning,’ said Elena between deep breaths. ‘He never is. I was surprised to find him-you… I… I… I only check in case there’s an emergency.’

‘There has been an emergency, and he will be online. I know the way Watts operates – he’ll want to make contact with you.’

They were both becoming accustomed to the darkness in the alley and Deveraux spotted Elena’s anxious look. ‘What’s happened? Are they-?’

‘They’re OK, for the moment. But it won’t stay that way unless you do exactly as I say.’

Elena glared at Deveraux: as her strength returned, her courage did too. ‘Why can’t you go online?’ she said. ‘You fooled me.’

Fooling Elena online had been relatively simple: Deveraux had deliberately kept the MSN chat short and sweet and had told her exactly what she wanted to hear. But she knew it would be far more difficult to trick Danny, and with Fergus ever vigilant, it was too risky to attempt. Going online as herself would be even more of a risk. Fergus would almost certainly order Danny to end the conversation before it had even started, and would probably ensure that his grandson never attempted to make contact again.

The best way was through Elena, and the quickest way of gaining her co-operation had been through fear.

‘I’m going to e-mail you the instructions I want you to give to Danny. They must be followed to the letter, and so must yours. When you go online to Danny, I shall be monitoring it. You tell them that you have met the woman who saved you before at the safe house. She is going to save you again. You will not go into the details of what has happened tonight. Is that clearly understood?’

Elena nodded. ‘But… but what if they won’t come back?’

Deveraux’s voice was cold and hard. ‘Not an option. They will come back; it’s their only hope – and yours too. If not, all three of you are dead, and that apology of a father of yours stays in prison for good.’

Senorita dice: im so glad yor there, bin worrying all nite

Senor dice: y? has something happened to u?

Senorita dice: yes but im ok. u???????

Danny and Fergus had waited at the ERV until after last light and then, carrying only their day sacks, had set out on the long walk. It wasn’t the first all-night trek they had undertaken to escape pursuers, and not for the first time Danny marvelled at his grandfather’s ability to keep up a steady and swift pace, despite his limp.

They skirted the town and walked south, following the course of the main road but sticking to the fields. At around midnight they stopped to eat and rest for a while before moving on. An hour after first light they picked up the early bus to the coastal town of Huelva.

Amongst the many contingency escape plans Fergus had made was one which involved stealing a small boat and making their way up the Portuguese coastline to some quiet little fishing port. Or even further. They had recced the harbour at Huelva and picked out potential vessels. There were plenty to choose from, particularly the small pleasure boats. Many were rarely used by their fair-weather sailor owners and sat at their moorings for a large part of the year. With any luck it would be weeks before one of those would be missed.

By nine a.m. Spanish time – eight a.m. British time – Fergus and Danny were in an Internet cafe and Danny was logged onto MSN. Danny’s face paled as he typed in the next message.

Senor dice: we’re fine, tell me wot happened

Senorita dice: you both gotta come back!!!!!!!

Senor dice: wot? wot du mean???????

Senorita dice: the woman from the safe house! i saw her. she’s gonna help u. 2nite! b4 sunrise 2morrow!

Before Danny could type in a reply, Fergus reached across and stopped him. ‘We need to be certain that this is Elena talking to you and it’s not some kind of setup. Ask something only Elena knows the answer to.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know,’ snapped Fergus. ‘Use your initiative.’

Danny went back to the keyboard.

Senor dice: wot do i eat 4 breakfast?

Senorita dice: WOT????????????

Senor dice: just answer the question

Senorita dice: o i get it, u don’t eat anything, u don’t do breakfast

Danny turned to his grandfather. ‘It’s Elena.’

Fergus nodded. ‘Ask her about getting us back.’

Elena was ready with the instructions she had received by e-mail. As she sent them across, Fergus jotted down every word on one of the Internet cafe flyers he grabbed from the desk.

‘Ask her if she’s been threatened,’ he said as he finished writing. He wasn’t expecting to get the answer he wanted and when Elena sent back her reply, he didn’t get it.

Senorita dice: can’t say, u just need 2 come home

Senor dice: u sure ur ok?

Senorita dice: don’t ask any more. just come home.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

Fergus had seen enough. He stood up. ‘We have to go, Danny. Right now.’

‘But we know it’s Elena, and I have to tell her what we’re gonna do.’

‘Just tell her I’ll think about what she’s said, but there’s no guarantees, take it or leave it! Then get offline – we don’t know who else is looking at that. Do it. Now!’

‘But-’

Fergus had already walked away to pay for their drinks and the use of the PC. Danny angrily typed in his grandfather’s final instruction and then reluctantly logged off without waiting for Elena’s goodbye. He pushed the flimsy chair back, scraping it across the floor, and as he got up, it went crashing down.

All eyes in the cafe turned towards Danny, and he saw his grandfather glaring at him from the counter. He knew exactly what Fergus was thinking: Brilliant, Danny, just the way to avoid drawing attention to us.

‘Sorry,’ he mumbled as he joined his grandfather. ‘But we’ve got to go back. For Elena. We’ve got to get her away from Foxcroft, so she’s safe.’

Fergus was staring out of the window. ‘Not now, Danny. You know what has to be done now and you know the drill.’

Danny nodded. His grandfather was right. Someone had got to Elena; she’d said it was the woman from the safe house, but they couldn’t be certain of that.

‘Someone may be telling Elena exactly what to write,’ said Fergus. ‘This could be a trap: getting you two online to locate us through the machine. It only takes seconds. We need to get out. Fast. For all we know, the team could be on their way.’

They took a narrow alleyway leading away from the busier part of town.

After six months of training Danny was well schooled in anti-surveillance and third-party awareness techniques. He checked behind them as they turned into a street leading towards the old town, but all the while he was worrying about Elena.

Fergus was thinking about the woman from the safe house. She had given them the chance to run six months earlier and had been prepared to ruthlessly execute one of her own team to give them that chance.

‘It might not be her,’ he said as he walked. ‘Could still be Fincham himself. We don’t know, and making wild guesses won’t get us anywhere.’

‘But we are going back, aren’t we?’ asked Danny as they turned at another junction.

Fergus said nothing and they walked in silence for a while until they reached a wide boulevard dotted every twenty metres or so with tall palm trees and clumps of oleander. Fergus found a hiding place in bushes close to a bus stop and sat down on the ground, gesturing for Danny to join him. They would be on the next bus to arrive, wherever it was heading.

‘So are we going back?’ asked Danny impatiently as he sat down. ‘We can’t just leave Elena.’

‘Could already be too late for Elena,’ said Fergus quietly. ‘Could be they’ve had what they needed from her.’