John Nance - Headwind

“So they issued the British warrant?” Sherry asked.

“Yes, and we can expect them to be at the plane with it when you get here.”

“And now it begins?”

He sighed. “I still see no reasonable alternative, Sherry, but… I think I should speak with the President.”

“Hold on. He’s sitting next to me.”

John Harris’s voice came on the line quickly, and Jay repeated the basics.

“Sir, there’s something I have to ask you.”

“Go ahead, Jay.”

“Does the name Barry Reynolds ring a bell?”

There was a very brief hesitation, and Jay imagined he heard a snort of disgust. “Of course. Reynolds was the CIA covert-operations man who set up the massacre in Peru that’s at the root of this problem. Why? Did his name come up in that courtroom today?”

This is an open line, Jay reminded himself. It could be monitored.

“Yes, it did, John. Stuart Campbell claims he has a clandestine videotape of Reynolds talking with you for thirty minutes in the Oval Office… I can’t get to my notes right now, but the meeting allegedly took place around two weeks before the attack.”

“A what ?”

“A tape. A videotape. Supposedly, he was wearing a small camera.”

“In the Oval Office ?” John Harris almost roared the question into the phone.

“Yes.”

“My Lord in heaven, Jay!”

“Look, John…” Jay interjected quickly. “I think we’d better save this until I see you in person. I don’t know how secure these phones are.”

“You’re being bluffed, Jay! I can tell you that.”

“Then no such meeting ever took place?”

“I’m… we’ll talk on the ground. You’re right to be cautious about this line. I heard Sherry say under two hours. Right, Sherry? She says ‘Yes.’ ”

“Okay, Mr. President. I’ll be waiting for you. And so will they.”

“Damn!” Harris snarled on the other end, responding, Jay thought, to the imminent arrest.

But it was the Reynolds allegation that had prompted Harris’s response: “I can’t believe Campbell would stoop so low,” the President said, correcting himself instantly. “Strike that. I guess I can believe it, and I suppose I should tell you the reason why.” John Harris’s voice sounded strained, his breathing heavy and audible over the pocket-sized phone even through the din of the Bow Street Court foyer surrounding Jay. “There wasn’t time before now,” Harris added.

“I beg your pardon?” Jay asked, looking at the floor and concentrating on the phone.

“Stuart and I have a bit of a history, Jay, that not even you know about.”

“A history?”

“Something I interfered with that he was trying to accomplish. It goes way back before you joined the firm.”

“I see.”

“I think he’s trying to even the score.”

Two men in animated conversation brushed past, almost knocking the phone from Jay’s hand. One mumbled a “Terribly sorry!” and rushed on, as Jay forced himself to focus on the conversation. “This would be a pretty excessive counterstrike just to get back at you for beating him in a lawsuit!” Jay said.

“It wasn’t a lawsuit,” the President added.

A commotion had broken out toward the main entryway and Jay glanced up to see several well-dressed men sweep in and fan out, questioning bystanders about something. He turned away, trying to concentrate on Harris’s reaction.

“You have my word, Jay,” John Harris said on his end. “This is not as it may appear. Don’t jump to any conclusions.”

“This man Reynolds. Is he a black hat?” Jay asked.

“You mean a bad guy? No.”

“Campbell said Reynolds had a long and distinguished career at Langley.”

“He did, Jay, which is why I made the mistake of trusting him.”

Jay related the news that the Secretary of State and a delegation sent by President Cavanaugh were on the way.

“Good. I more or less expected that,” the President said.

“But I’m worried, John, that they’re planning on taking over the show, and that would be perfectly all right if I could be sure they’re serving only your interests.”

“But you doubt it, as you should.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t worry, Jay. You are my lawyer, and their help is entirely subject to your discretion.”

“Yes, but should it be? I mean, one error here and you could be on your way to Lima in handcuffs,” Jay said, letting the enormity of the risk settle over him once more. “I’m still very concerned about the intentions of the British Government. I haven’t heard back from the Prime Minister’s office.”

“Mr. Reinhart?” A male voice broke through his concentration, and he looked up to see one of the newcomers standing in front of him. He covered the mouthpiece of the GSM phone. “Just… just a moment.”

“Okay,” the man replied, his accent clearly American.

“John? I’d better go,” Jay said into the tiny handset. “I’m headed… back to the hotel for now. No, wait… I’m going straight to Heathrow on second thought. Do you know where at Heathrow the aircraft is going to be?”

“The general aviation facility by Terminal 4. Metro Business Aviation, I think,” Harris said, passing the address as relayed by Craig Dayton. Jay scribbled it down before ringing off and turning to the man who’d called his name.

“Sorry about that,” Jay said.

“No problem, Mr. Reinhart. The Secretary of State has arrived and would like to speak with you at his hotel. We have a car waiting.”

“I’ll be with you in a moment,” Jay said, motioning Nigel White and Geoffrey Wallace over to thank them and arrange a meeting later in the evening.

“You realize,” Geoffrey said, “that if they arrest him today, Campbell will try, and probably succeed, in setting the committal hearing for sometime tomorrow. That’s assuming the home secretary signs the appropriate instruments and Peru has sent the formal request.”

“That would be back here?”

“Yes. Committal hearings are only handled at Bow Street.”

“But we simply file for habeas corpus with the… ah…”

“Divisional Court. Yes, but they might expedite that, as well.”

“Have you ever heard of a contested extradition happening within, say, a couple of months?”

Geoffrey shook his head no. “But keep this in mind, Jay. It all depends on the government. If they want to grease the skids, so to speak, and if the Divisional Court refuses to assign the matter for review by the House of Lords, it could happen very fast.”

“There’s still a last appeal, though.”

“You don’t want to get into that territory. Look, probably we’ll have a minimum of months, but I’m simply answering the question you asked earlier today. Could it be pushed? Yes, it could.”

“This process is beginning to sound more risky than I envisioned,” Jay said quietly.

“It is,” Nigel White replied, “especially if Her Majesty’s Government makes the decision to get involved forcefully. Now, your man is no bloody Pinochet, so it’s unlikely they would, yet…”

“Yet, you’re not sure?”

“I’ve heard disturbing things about this Prime Minister’s fury over the way Pinochet was afforded such kid glove care in Britain.”

“Do you think I ought to keep him out of the country?”

Wallace shook his head. “I’m not saying that. I just need to warn you that even if the underlying charges are hogwash, getting this warrant off his back is not a… what do you call it in the States? A ‘slam duck’?”

“What?” Jay said, shifting his eyes from Nigel White to Geoffrey Wallace. “Oh. No, that’s ‘slam dunk ,’ as in basketball. Not duck.”