Bodie

Time to face Atherton. I'm dreading finding out what's really going on, to be perfectly honest, and I'm certainly not prepared for this.

As I push open the door to the back room, steeling myself to play cold, hard and merciless with him, I freeze. A horrible hot feeling of fury and betrayal rises up at the back of my throat though any surprise is hardly warranted. What did I expect?

DeBruin is sitting across the table from Atherton, whose calm looks a little shaken.

I close my face completely and shut the door quietly behind me.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Ah, Mr Bodie," DeBruin starts, standing up and offering me a hand. I stare at it in disbelief and turn away to the whisky decanter instead. He shrugs and sits back down and I take a welcome slug of Scotch, letting my eyes burn holes in him.

"Atherton?" I ask coldly.

"O'Malley," he says wearily.

"O'Malley," I repeat, non-committally.

"Now don't play games, Mr Bodie," DeBruin says pleasantly. "A friend of mine, Kevin O'Malley, went missing today. He was seen being taken away against his will by a couple of anonymous men. Now I think either you already know about this or can find out for me. It was a CI5 job, wasn't it?"

"Who's O'Malley?" I ask with feigned innocence.

"I would have thought you'd know," he says. "Do your friends at CI5 not keep you informed?"

"No. And I tell them as little as possible while trying to keep them sweet. Atherton knows this," I add with slightly dangerous impatience.

"That's right," Atherton agrees. As I recognise his solidarity, I feel relieved and confused and wish to God I knew what the teams were and whose side I'm on. Actually, what game we're playing could be a handy addition.

"No matter," DeBruin says. "But I'm well aware you're feeding information to CI5 - under duress, perhaps - and that they listen to what you say."

"And?"

"And I have a proposition for you."

I watch him warily. He proffers me the decanter again, which I refuse, then pulls an envelope from his pocket. It's thick and soft and it doesn't take a genius to guess what's in it. I feign a greedy gleam and I'm pretty sure he buys it.

"How much?" I ask.

"Fifty thousand," he says and I nod, half-approvingly.

"For what?"

"O'Malley's release."

"Do I need to know why?"

"Absolutely not," DeBruin says with an unnervingly pleasant smile.

I shrug and pick up the envelope, fingering it thoughtfully.

"Not much for risking a life sentence," I say.

"If you are successful we could negotiate a supplement," he says. "And you don't just benefit from the money. I need two clear days after O'Malley's release then I shall be out of this country and will sever all ties with yourself and Peter here. CI5 and Special Branch lose their man and there can be no repercussions. Only O'Malley knows about your connection with me and I shall ensure he is also - disposed of.

"It seems to me, Mr Bodie," he carries on, "That you risk a great deal more helping CI5 and for very little reward whether they are successful or not."

I process this carefully and quickly while I stare him down, still holding the envelope. Logically he is completely right, of course. Which means my compliance will be believeable. DeBruin's knowledge of me is restricted to my activities in Africa as related by Atherton. He knows I made a fortune in the Congo and lost it in jail. He knows of people I've killed to get what I wanted, of money I've accepted on very dubious grounds for far more dubious activities.

And he doesn't know that it was different out there. That I was different out there. He and Atherton are still playing the same games and CI5's reputation as some sort of legalised death squad doesn't hurt my reputation either.

"I believe you can be an ingenious negotiator, Mr Bodie," he says. "I'm sure it's not outside your capabilities to persuade CI5 to release Kevin O'Malley for two days under a pretext that won't incriminate you."

I look at him thoughtfully. "If CI5 release O'Malley, they'll have him watched, followed, listened to. He won't be able to scratch his arse without them knowing so I don't see how he is any use to you."

"You don't need to know," DeBruin says. "He has certain transferable skills. And the means to pass his knowledge to the relevant people. I don't think I need to say any more."

I wonder if it's all coordinated electronically somehow. Perhaps hidden anonymously somewhere in cyberspace where even Richards and CI5 can't access it. I don't know much about the modern criminal world but if DeBruin's confident O'Malley can engineer a huge customs scam right under CI5's nose I'm pretty confident he's right.

I look at Atherton who raises an eyebrow and looks away.

"A ton," I say. "And you keep Atherton out of it."

"Oh come now Mr Bodie."

"Do you know what I think?" I say, mildly, sensing the advantage. "I think this is quite a large job. Millions possibly. And I'm pretty sure a hundred grand is your loose change so don't play me for quite as much of a fool as you have been."

I pour another shot of whisky and sip it slowly, watching his face. Mercenary enough? I'm out of practice. It's been a long time.

DeBruin looks at me calmly.

"I'll need a few days to make it work smoothly," I continue. "O'Malley will be released by the weekend. I have an off shore account you can pay the extra fifty k into the day after his release."

"Three days after," DeBruin says. "And thirty thousand."

I hesitate, then concede with a slight nod. "All right," I say.

"You're aware, of course, that I may not be able to influence them one way or another," I say. "I'm just an informer after all."

"Not just an informer, Mr Bodie," DeBruin smiles. "For one reason. Ray Doyle."

"Of course I'll use my relationship with Doyle any way I can," I say. "But he's not CI5."

DeBruin stands up and offers his hand again. "I leave it in your capable hands," he says as I shake it. "You've got two days. After that we may need to resort to more inconvenient methods. For which I may still require your help, so your success at this stage is in everyone's interests."

"I realise that," I say smoothly.

Atherton leads DeBruin out and I sit down heavily and stare at my fifty grand. Then I shake my head in weary amusement and put it in the safe. I need to contact CI5 and fast but I'm not entirely sure how secure any of the phones are. I could do with a crash course in modern intelligence techniques.

In the end I send an urgent text message to anyone relevant as I'm fairly sure these can't be intercepted. I rub my eyes and lean my head in my hands as Atherton comes back and I feel the weight of nights and nights without sleep weighing down on me heavily. I'm not even done with tonight yet.

"What have you been up to?" I ask him tiredly.

"I have no choice," he says. "As I explained before and you well know. You're not really taking that money?"

"I just did, didn't I?" I say. "Legally, the crime has already been committed. I don't have a choice either, do I?"

Atherton looks at me silently. The look says he knows me better but that saying so won't help. There's a fear behind his eyes, a fear that goes beyond panic almost to resignation.

"Pete," I say, sincerely, "if anything goes wrong, if they all get caught, you will come to CI5 with me and give them everything?"

"Don't jump the gun, Bodie," he says. "Let's just hope nothing goes wrong. Because you know what I'm facing if you screw up..."

I meet his eyes and wish there was a God I could pray to to somehow let him out of the loop.

Atherton stares at me, expressionless for a few moments.

"He won't sever all contact," he says finally, quietly. "Just so you know."

I nod at him silently. We're hanging together by a thread. Still. Just.

I feel my phone vibrate once in my pocket and am relieved someone's responded so quickly. Maybe I'll still get to go home tonight at some point. Tempting though it is I put the whisky back as I'm already intolerably sleepy and walk outside, trying to harness my thoughts. I've played it by ear from the start and the last few weeks I've been too busy to plan anything. Trying to stay awake takes up most of my available energy. But I get the very clear message that we're heading for the climax here and decisions are going to have to be made.

I wonder how much CI5 trust me and to what extent I can manipulate them. I am now, after all, a direct contact to DeBruin and everything that is about to happen. If I'm prepared to take the risk, I should be able to use this to bargain for Atherton's safety and when the shit hits the fan he'll just have to co-operate. That's something I'll have to gamble on, along with the assumption that he knows a lot more that could be useful to CI5 than he's ever let on to me.

I chew my lips thoughtfully, grab a couple of cans of Red Bull and send a text message back to Sam agreeing to a meeting in half an hour.