Chapter 104

‘Smerconish believes that because Jakob Tas smuggled a boat all the way from Maine, the threat is water-based,' Draper said.

Koenig rolled his eyes. Of course the threat was water-based. It was such an obvious conclusion that no one on the Gulfstream had bothered to voice it. Tas had risked hauling the boat almost 3,500 miles, across multiple states and multiple time zones. He'd only done that because he'd had to. If it was something inside the boat, he'd have unloaded it somewhere quiet and scuttled the boat in a handy lake.

‘Any specific water-based threat, or is that all he has?' Koenig said. ‘Because the way this is unfold—'

‘Tas's target is Naval Base San Diego,' Draper cut in. ‘He believes the boat is a bomb.'

Koenig shook his head. ‘That doesn't make sense.'

‘He thinks it does.'

‘I agree it's a water-based threat, but it's not a bomb. He could have gotten explosives anywhere. He wouldn't have to smuggle them into the country.'

‘The target doesn't make sense either,' Carlyle said. ‘Naval Base San Diego doesn't meet the objectives of the Acacia Avenue Protocol.'

‘Again, he thinks it does,' Draper said. ‘HMS Queen Elizabeth , the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier, has just docked there. It's undertaking interoperability training with a Marine Corps F-35 squadron. Smerconish thinks it's the British ship that's the target, not one of ours. He says destroying the flagship of a major ally won't only damage our reputation, it'll impact on our military capability.'

Koenig looked at Carlyle. ‘Bess?'

‘Not being able to protect our allies' ships during peacetime would be a major embarrassment,' she said. ‘But it doesn't meet the objectives of the Acacia Avenue Protocol.'

‘And blowing up an aircraft carrier doesn't need a bunch of mercenaries,' Koenig said. ‘It doesn't need Margaret getting close to Bess. And what about the people Hobbs and Nash killed? And Carlyle's missing academics? How does all that fit? All a naval base attack needs is a man in a canoe with an oil drum full of fertiliser and a death wish. But that's why Smerconish isn't worried. Naval bases have more protection than people realise. A lot more. Tas wouldn't be able to paddle alongside the Queen Elizabeth unnoticed. That would be foolhardy, and I don't think Tas is foolhardy.'

‘He's hardly a genius, though,' Draper said. ‘If he were, we wouldn't have been able to track him to San Diego.'

‘If that's what really happened.'

Draper didn't respond.

‘Think about it,' Koenig continued. ‘Tas was in constant contact with Margaret, so he knew we were on to him. But instead of getting rid of his cell phone in the middle of nowhere, he's observed throwing it into the sea. Why was that?'

‘You said he'd made a mistake.'

‘And now I don't think he did. I think that was somewhere for us to start. The first breadcrumb. A trail that would lead to three dead bodies in an old paint warehouse in San Diego. And HMS Queen Elizabeth 's visit isn't a secret.'

‘It's misdirection?'

‘I think that's exactly what this is. I think he wants us putting our resources into bulking up security at the naval base. And while we do, he'll be somewhere else with a boat that's rigged with something a lot more exotic than C-4.'

‘What, though?'

‘I have no idea.'

‘Bess?' Draper said.

Carlyle shrugged. ‘I don't know what he's up to, but I agree with Ben; the naval base is misdirection.'

‘And you still won't tell us what this master plan of yours is?'

‘If I thought it would help, I would. But I don't, so I won't.'

Draper shook her head in frustration. ‘Got to say, Bess, I'm getting mighty fucking tired of that answer.'

‘I won't compromise national security to assuage your curiosity,' she said, calm as a toad in the sun.

‘Tell him then!' Draper snapped, pointing at Koenig. ‘I don't like not being trusted, but I'll accept the compromise.'

‘How is that different?'

‘Because you're right. I would be a risk. I've completed my resistance to interrogation training, and I know my limits. I would hold out for as long as I could, but I would talk eventually. I wouldn't be able to help myself; my pain would overrule my patriotism. I've watched zealots being tortured, men and women who would have happily died for their cause, and not one of them held out indefinitely. They all talked in the end. Everyone does.' She paused a beat, then pointed at Koenig. ‘He won't, though,' she said. ‘I don't think there are any circumstances in which Koenig would talk.'

‘He's not invincible, Miss Draper,' Carlyle said.

‘He's better,' Draper said. ‘He's stubborn.'

‘Stubbornness isn't a substitute for—'

‘Do you want to know how he's able to do all that stupid shit? Walking towards men in body armour like he's invincible. Throwing bodies down oily stairs like he's at a bowling alley. Taking out a bunch of corrupt cops with a credit card. A hundred other things you don't know about?'

‘I assumed he—'

‘It's because the asshole can't feel fear, Bess!' Draper cut in. ‘And I don't mean in a heroic, overcoming-what-you'rescared-of way. I mean, he literally can't feel fear. His brain's all fucked up. The bit that regulates his fight-or-flight response has calcified harder than a dinosaur turd.'

Carlyle looked at Koenig thoughtfully. Looked like she was evaluating him.

‘And torture is all about fear,' Draper continued. ‘That's how it works. It's the fear of pain, not the pain itself. If the person applying pain understands the psychology of torture, they should ensure the pain is noticeably worse than the time before. The victim not only has the memory of the pain they've just experienced, they also have the fear of the pain to come. No one talks during the pain. It's always before the next lot is applied.'

‘That may be so, Miss Draper,' Carlyle said. ‘Maybe Ben won't be the national security risk I was. But I don't see how a problem shared is a problem halved. Not in this case. I know the Acacia Avenue Protocol better than anyone, and I can make neither head nor tail of what's happening. I can see the individual pieces, but the bigger picture eludes me. I can't see how they connect. And I know what I'm looking for. Ben wouldn't. I'm sorry, but I don't see how this helps.'

‘That's the thing, Bess,' Draper said. ‘He can help. If you let him, he's the best chance you have.'

‘How?'

‘Because Koenig happens to be the best lateral thinker I've ever met. If anyone can make sense of these disparate pieces, it's him.' She stood. ‘Now, I'm going to give Nash a drink of water. I'm knocking off all internal communication devices. Please, please, please , tell Koenig what the Acacia Avenue Protocol is.'

She left the front of the Gulfstream and shut the door behind her. It closed with an expensive-sounding snick . Carlyle held Koenig's gaze for a full minute. Didn't say anything. Just stared and scrutinised.

‘You have to trust someone, Bess,' he said. ‘If not me, who?'

Still nothing.

‘I know part of it anyway,' he added.

‘Oh?'

‘Like Jen says, I'm a lateral thinker. I think the Acacia Avenue Protocol is an attack on our infrastructure. It has to be. It's the only thing that joins up all the dots.'

‘What makes you say that?'

‘Because of who Hobbs and Nash were killing. They weren't random. Not if you ignore who they were and concentrate on what they did . Louise Durose was a landfill-management expert. Hank Reynolds worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, something to do with wastewater systems, and Michael Gibbs had designed software that was supposed to increase deepwater port productivity. They're infrastructure jobs. We don't yet have the bios of the sixteen others that Hobbs and Nash killed, but I'm sure they'll have worked in infrastructure too. And I bet not one of them headed up their department.'

‘Why?'

‘Because of the Peter principle.'

‘Go on.'

‘It's the management theory that people rise to positions of incompetence. They get promoted out of jobs they're good at but eventually get a job they're not good at. In some hierarchical organisations the entire management structure is staffed by the incompetent.'

‘And why would this be relevant to an attack on our infrastructure?'

‘Because the people Hobbs and Nash killed were the ones who got things done. The ones who understood how everything worked. And how to fix it when it broke. The people above them are the Peters in the Peter principle. And the Peters aren't just the incompetents. They're the policy wonks. The political appointments. The dumb lucky and the nepotists. But because most organisations don't take continuity planning seriously, if you take out the level below the Peters, the organisation grinds to a halt.' He paused, then added, ‘Have I passed?'

Carlyle slumped in her seat. Seemed to go back into her shell. But just when he thought she was going to take Acacia Avenue to her grave, she decided not to. She decided to trust him.

‘What do you know about the Partition of India, Ben?'